BY ALISON ST JOHN
September 2, 2011
The article on the KPBS website may be read in full here

I admit to being upset by the article referenced above.
So much so that I wrote the following – which KPBS has elected to leave visible.
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Great headline! Maybe the author could work in, “Granite Construction Corporation receives $29 Million Dollars of Federal stimulus money for work on roads within the Navajo Reservation and uses $10 million to destroy sites sacred to the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians.

Or a fact or two about the project:

The quarry would be a mile and a half long and as deep as the Empire State Building is tall. It would be one of the largest gravel pits in the nation. Blasting would occur every day that the quarry is open (six days) and operation would be from 7 am until 10 pm. Deforested areas visible from the highway (due to loss of ground water) would be painted green.

A note about the involvement of local government:

The communities surrounding the site selected by Granite Construction Corporation have been fighting the proposed quarry since at least 2005. Documentation to this effect is available to the public via PDF of the Temecula City Council. Over 40,000 residents, 500 local businesses, and 140 area physicians have signed petitions protesting the proposed quarry.

On March 8, 2011 the City Council of the City of Temecula passed Resolution No. 11 opposing the Liberty Quarry project after spending $784,000 to annex properties and analyze/debunk Lilburn’s EIR paid for by Granite Construction Corporation. Lilburn’s motto of “Getting to Yes” gives insight into their methodology.

It was only after the failure of local communities and local government to stop Granite Construction’s plans that the Native American community became involved. Now both Native and non-Native Americans are doing their utmost to prevent the project.

On Wednesday August 31, 2011, the Riverside Planning Commission voted to deny the project as the benefits of the project did not outweigh the risks.

And a closing thought:

Why KPBS has chosen to malign the efforts of concerned communities surrounding the proposed Gregory Canyon Landfill and proposed Liberty Quarry with a borderline racist slant is beyond my comprehension.

The Liberty Quarry project would destroy the LAST wild river and LAST coastal wildlife corridor in Southern California. The fact that it contains sites which are sacred to people who have inhabited those lands for 10,000 years is axiomatic and I respect that.  Native American beliefs and customs are different than those of my Christian heritage; but possibly not all that dissimilar from my forefathers belief system.  Here is something else which I understand: All Creation is Divine.

Mr. John Petty (3rd District Planning Commissioner) raised an interesting topic at Wednesday’s meeting regarding Riverside County’s outdated permitting process. I trust that this is something which will be pursued.  Regardless it is time to re-examine our treatment of “undeveloped land.”  The negative effects of eighteenth century attitudes toward our vanishing natural world is impacting us all and not in a good way.  It is time for a change based on facts: not the weight of a financial juggernaut.

http://sacredskysacredearth.com/ab-742/