The topic of discussion in Cupertino on Wednesday night was the future of the Lehigh Cement Plant and Quarry site. A panel representing several oversight agencies answered a number of questions from the community.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian moderated the discussion and reassured the plant will not reopen.
This comes after the plant faced more than 2,000 violations. Santa Clara County also received a number of noise complaints from nearby residents.
The company has also been fined millions of dollars for alleged violations including the discharging of wastewater into Permanente Creek.
“We now have a clear commitment that the cement plant will not only close but stay closed permanently. Quarrying activity will come to an end and we will begin to see the restoration of the site,” Simitian said.
Simitian said one of the next steps is a conversation with the parent company as well as receiving public input. But one of the most shocking parts of Wednesday's panel was the timeline that all of this could take.
“When folks have been digging a hole in the ground for a century or more, it's gonna take a long time to fill that hole back up,” Simitian said.
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The timeline of this may actually take decades.
“We’ve estimated 600 truck trips a day over for about a 30 year period,” said Rob Salisbury with Santa Clara County’s Department of Planning and Development.
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Simitian said that he will cause concern with things like traffic. But he added that all of that will be debated and resolved in the next couple of years.
