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

Lehigh Hanson Quarry/Cement Plant violation

(This doesn't look good, and we'll be following the issue. It's the text of a letter from the Regional Water Board to Lehigh Hanson quarry/cement plant operators.  -Brian)


Sent via certified Mail - Return Receipt Requested
March 26, 2010
Lehigh Southwest Cement Co.
c/o Scott Renfew, Environmental Manager
24001 Stevens Creek Boulevard
Cupertino , CA 95014

Subject: NOTICE OF VIOLATION and required corrective actions for failure to protect stormwater at industrial facility

Facility: Lehigh Southwest Cement Co. (formally Hanson Permanente Cement) Industrial facility, located at 24001 Stevens Creek Boulevard,
Cupertino, Santa Clara County
WDID No. 2 43I006267

Dear Mr. Renfew:

You are hereby given notice that the industrial facility indicated above (Facility) is in violation of stormwater protection requirements. On behalf of Water Board staff, a PG Environmental, LLC, inspector recently inspected the Facility, and noted numerous water quality violations. You are required to correct the problems noted in the attached Inspection Findings, Violations, and Corrective Actions Report and send us documentation of your corrective actions by the dates indicated in this Report.

The Facility is in violation of the NPDES General Permit for Discharges of Storm Water associated with Industrial Activities Excluding Construction Activities, Order No. 97-03-DWQ (Permit1) and the San Francisco Bay Water Quality Control Plan (Basin Plan2).

Permit violations

The Permit requires industrial facility owners to implement controls that reduce pollutants in stormwater discharges to the Best Available Technology Economically Achievable/Best Conventional Pollutant Control Technology (BAT/BCT) performance standard. Development and implementation of a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan that complies with the requirements in Section A of the Permit and that includes Best Management Practices (BMPs)
that achieve BAT/BCT constitutes compliance with this requirement. Our inspector observed that the Facility does not meet this standard, and therefore, the Facility is in violation of the Permit.

Basin Plan Prohibition violations

Additionally, the Facility is in violation of the Basin Plan, which is the Regional Water Board’s master water quality control document. The Basin Plan applies to all discharges within the Regional Water Board’s jurisdiction, including discharges from this Facility. We observed during the February 10, 2010, inspection evidence of discharges that are in violation of, at a minimum, Basin Plan Prohibition 7:

Prohibition 7 prohibits rubbish, refuse, bark, sawdust, or other solid wastes into surface waters or at any place where they would contact or where they would be eventually transported to surface waters, including flood plain areas.

Please refer to the attached inspection report for the details of the violations and required corrective actions.

Consequences for not coming into compliance

Failure to return to compliance with the Permit and failure to comply with the Basin Plan prohibitions are violations of CWC Section 13385(a)(2) and (a)(4), respectively, for which the Water Board may impose civil liability in the amount not to exceed $10,000 per day of each violation, plus $10 per gallon in excess of 1,000 gallons per discharge.

Additional notes

If you need guidance, the California Stormwater Quality Association (CASQA) publishes a handbook for Industrial Stormwater Best Management Practices3. The CASQA handbook is one of many online resources that describe industry standard BMPs. Please note that Water Board can not specify means of compliance. It is your responsibility to select and correctly implement an appropriate suite of BMPs. Use of the CASQA handbook or other similar guidance documents may help you achieve compliance, but it does not guarantee compliance.

If you have any questions regarding this letter, please contact Christine Boschen at (510) 622-2346 or by email at cboschen@waterboards.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Dyan C. Whyte
Assistant Executive Officer
Encl.: February 10, 2010, Inspection Findings, Violations, and Corrective Actions

Lunar impact, light pollution, and the sky above South San Francisco Bay

At 4 a.m. last night (this morning?), my friend Ted and I were on Skyline Drive in San Mateo County, finishing setting up a 12-inch telescope that we share. We were attempting to watch the explosion from the NASA LCROSS satellite hitting the moon, and like most observers, we didn't see an explosion. Still, we had some great views of the moon and the Orion Nebula, so it was still worth it.

We went up to Skyline to escape the fog blanketing lower areas, and we ended up having some of the best night skies I've seen in the area, because the fog blanked out most of the light pollution from down below.

It was a great reminder that one of our natural resources that Committee for Green Foothills seeks to protect is our dark skies and the ability to see the stars. When we fight the ridiculously light-polluting lamps spilling out from the Lehigh-Hanson quarry, that's just one example, and we're watching for other problems as well.

-Brian

Air quality effect from Hanson Quarry to be studied

Mercury News reports that:

The Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it plans to
test air quality at selected schools nationwide to better understand whether
outdoor toxic air pollution poses health risks to students.

Stevens Creek Elementary in Cupertino is one of 62 schools
nationwide and the only school in Northern California on the list. The campus
was chosen because it is located about two miles from the Hanson Cement plant on
Stevens Creek Boulevard.

We have a number of concerns about the quarry and the cement plant, one of which is whether the coke- and coal-burning operations are responsible for any of the mercury contamination in nearby streams and reservoirs. Hopefully this test will help us understand that.

-Brian

Expansion of the Hanson Permanente Quarry?

It's not clear yet until we get a look at the revised Reclamation Plan, but Santa Clara County is considering a revised plan that could involve expanding the area affected by the Hanson Permanente Quarry in the hills above Cupertino. It may be an expansion of "only" 30 acres, but we need to see the details to be sure there are no unwelcome surprises. Committee for Green Foothills has been following environmental issues with the quarry very closely, and we'll watch this one as well.

For those who are interested, there will be a preliminary meeting at Cupertino City Hall tomorrow (Wednesday) in Room 100 at 4 p.m. People interested in seeing the environmental report that will ultimately result from this should be able to sign up on a receiving list, either signing up at this meeting or by contacting County Planner Mark Connolly, at (408) 299-5786.

We also encourage everyone to sign up for our Action Alerts to learn about how to affect crucial decisions on this quarry and on other important environmental issues in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.

-Brian