Wednesday, May 5, 2010

A CGF quarry victory I didn't even realize had happened

Some good news from the Lehigh-Hanson Quarry in the hills above Cupertino and Los Altos:  on CGF's suggestion, they have changed the night-time lighting to decrease the light pollution offsite.  We suggested this years ago, and on a recent visit the quarry operators told me they had taken us up on the suggestion.  They said they've turned off the most prominent lighting, the ones on top of a tower, and only turn them on when maintenance is needed.  There's another set of lights on a conveyor that have also been reconfigured.

Perhaps not the biggest victory in the world, but it's an improvement.  The ability to see the stars is a natural resource that belongs to everyone, and light pollution is a documented environmental problem for both people and wildlife.

Also based on our suggestion, Lehigh changed the management of the rock scar above Los Altos Hills to prioritize completion of the visible section so revegetation can happen as soon as possible.  They anticipate finishing the visible section this year, with revegetation occurring at the very to in the 2011-2012 rainy season.

Plenty of other issues to work on there, however, so we'll keep focused.

-Brian

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