County Poised To End Quarry Saga
By Logan Hall
Part 2 in a multipart series
County officials are preparing to hear Ojai Rock Quarry owner Larry Mosler’s case during a public hearing scheduled for Thursday morning. Among other issues, Mosler is refusing to submit financial assurance for a reclamation plan that he says will cost him almost $3 million.
Staff from the county’s Planning Department say they have given Mosler many chances to comply with their need for a Financial Assurance Cost Estimate — the amount of money it should take to properly reclaim the mine if it were ever abandoned. Mosler says the county is asking for an unprecedented amount of fill material to be accounted for that would fill in mined areas of the quarry if the need arose for reclamation.
Brian Baca, the county Planning Department’s commercial and industrial permit manager, says both the county and the State Mining and Geology Board’s Office of Mining Reclamation have reviewed Mosler’s approved reclamation plan, which has been in place since 1995, and have reported that a new plan addressing the need for 285,000 cubic yards of fill material be factored into his plan. Along with the amended plan, Mosler is required by county and state law to submit his F.A.C.E. and a means of facilitating that assurance through a cash deposit, bond or other approved means.
County officials say that Mosler’s claim that the fill material could cost close to $3 million are not associated with county or state reviews, and that the mine owner is responsible for providing a professional cost estimate for the plan which, in Mosler’s case, now includes 285,000 cubic yards of material. “The county has never asked for a specific dollar amount for his plan,” said Baca. “We made our own preliminary estimate which was just over 300,000 cubic yards. The state made a review and said 285,000 cubic yards of material was necessary for the plan, so we went with the state’s estimate. As far as the cost, they (Mosler) have not given an engineer’s estimate. He (Mosler) has not submitted anything to us for review.”
Dr. Sandy Figuers, a geologist with Norfleet Consulting, was hired by Mosler to prepare reports for the county on the stability of the mine. Figuers, who holds his doctorate in geology and is a registered civil engineer, disagrees with the county’s assessment that the mine needs large amounts of fill material for reclamation. “What the county is asking for is called a global buttress fill,” said Figuers who says he has 30 years experience in the field. “The state of knowledge of how to analyze a slope is much better than it was 20 years ago. Since that time advances have greatly increased. The assumption that the slope is unstable is no longer valid.”
Figuers points out a slope cut by Cal Trans to construct Maricopa Highway. “Just look at the other side of the highway where Caltrans cut almost vertical rock slopes that are 200 feet high,” he said. “Those slopes are way more vertical than anything on Larry’s mine. All you will see there are small rock falls.”
Explaining the reclamation process, Figuers commented that reclamation plans are designed to deal with large-scale failures. “In reclamation,” he continued, “we’re looking at large failures of slopes that address major safety concerns.”
Figuers says that the bottom line is that the slope is much more stable than county officials claim. “In my professional opinion,” he concluded, “a global buttress fill is not necessary.”
Mosler gave documents to the Ojai Valley News showing statements that his previous financial assurance hasn’t been more than $48,000, and county records show his previous submitted F.A.C.E. was $22,322. Mosler questions the decision to require the large quantity of material in the reclamation plan and says his attempts to provide an updated F.A.C.E. have been ignored by county staff.
“No one has ever brought up this dirt issue in the last 16 years,” said Mosler. “I’ve been submitting new F.A.C.E. plans but the county won’t accept or reject them. Rick Goacher with RGP Planning and Development Services prepared a new F.A.C.E. In it I raised the financial assurance to $48,000. That’s when Baca came up with the plan that will cost me $3 million to import dirt.”
Cost estimates for the type of fill material required by the county for Mosler’s reclamation plan are not easy to come by. Most require an analysis of distance from the source of the material to the recipient and also depends on the specific material required. Attempts by the OVN to obtain a cost for hauling 285,000 cubic yards of fill material showed that prices could range from $3 to $15 per cubic yard depending on distance and type of material used.
State Mining and Geology Board documents regarding previous reclamation plans from Mosler have addressed many issues with Mosler’s plan, including the removal of perched boulders and hydroseeding to stabilize hillsides. None of the previous documents refer to the need for fill material in the amount specified by the county and the SMGB in the latest requirement for Mosler’s reclamation plan. Baca says that prior to his involvement with the Ojai quarry, county staff mishandled Mosler’s case and that the SMGB was not aware of the area that needed fill material. “This all came from the past year’s inspection,” said Baca. “His original plan (in 1995) shows a large fill area and he has mined extensively beyond that since then. It’s quite simple really. This is what is specifically required for his facility.”
Mosler is quick to point out that his mine is small, and out of 12 mines in Ventura County, his financial assurance is second only to one of the county’s largest mines, P.W. Gillibrand Topa Canyon mine in Simi Valley. According to county documents presented by Mosler, Gillibrand’s current F.A.C.E. is $3.1 million. “I have the smallest mine in the county,” said Mosler. “What they want me to do means I have to come up with $3 million. I can’t pay that. Who has that kind of money just lying around?”
Ojai Stop the Trucks! Coalition representatives suggest that Mosler has corporate backing and could easily afford the costs. “Mosler and his people are liars,” said coalition representative Michael Shapiro, who says that Mosler’s operation is backed by a major corporation, Tri County Trucking, and that money is readily available. “They aren’t the mom and pop store they claim to be.”
Mosler, however, says he has nothing to hide and, when asked, promptly produced the deed to the mine, which was sold to him in 2005 by Schmidt Construction for $1,003,643. Mosler pointed out that he did receive financial backing from the Marietta family, who owns Tri County Trucking, but that he doesn’t have access to funds from the company. “I used to work with the Mariettas when I had my portable rock crushing business,” said Mosler. “Schmidt wanted a million. I had $400,000. The Marietta family trust loaned me $600,000, which we have paid down to about $70,000. They played bank.”
Mosler says the Mariettas wouldn’t give him the money for a F.A.C.E., and says the mine isn’t worth enough to warrant a loan for the reclamation plan. “It’s questionable if the mine is even worth that kind of money,” continued Mosler. “No one would front $3 million for a reclamation plan. The Marietta family doesn’t have $3 million to loan me.”
If the County Board of Supervisors upholds county staff’s recommendations, Mosler would need to cease all operations of the mine within the time specified by the board. Mosler’s attorney Derek Cole has filed an appeal with the SMGB on their decision.
The board is scheduled to conduct a public hearing Thursday at 8:30 a.m. in the Ventura County Government Center supervisors hearing room. Citizens concerned with the matter are urged to attend the hearing.
Follow the money. The Quarry purchase price in 2005 was $1,003,643. The loan payment to Marietta trucking was $530,000 in 5 years. That is $106,000 per year. The Quarry is making a good buck to be able to pay off that loan. So what sort of revenue does it produce in a year? And is it feasible for the business to pay a 3 million reclamation bond? And is it fair compared to the other quarrys in the area?
VC STAR reporter Tony Biasotti is a paid agent of
the Ventura County Democratic Central Committee
and Michael Shapiro.
Perhaps the naysayers at O.S.T.T.C. will let us know what type of material their homes and offices are built with?
The more businesses which are beat up, restricted, fined, and so forth – the less New potential businesses will opt to establish themselves in the Ojai area. That equals less tax revenue, services and Jobs!
“This vote marks an end to one phase of our Five Year battle to block proposals that could have put more than 600 gravel trucks a day on Ojai’s roads!”
I can think of a million reasons to find fault with this claim, including how easy it is to claim unsubstantiated statistics.
One phase? You mean there is more to come? Who’s next on your list? Von’s trucks? Sunkist trucks? The trucks delivering hay for the equine crowd? The Berryman? My F-150?
Capitalizing Five Year battle? Like the 100 Year War, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the Great Patriotic War? I suspect you are experiencing delusions of grandeur?
“The only ones responsible for the possible shut down of the quarry in Ojai – and the consequences of that shut down – are the owners themselves.”
Then why are you gloating about the end of Phase One of your Five Year battle, as noted above, to stop the unsubstantiated figure of 600 trucks? Seems you are taking a lot of the credit for shutting down the mines and putting folks out of work.
“And in regards rocks for the Watershed Protection District and other necessary projects?”
“There are legally qualified quarries in Camarillo and Moorpark that can easily supply the County’s needs.”
So let me get this straight. In case of the need to haul rocks in a valley that has plenty of rocks, we will have to go to Camarillo or Fillmore, which have different kinds of rocks, mostly sandstone. Now, I’m sure those quarry owners are tickled happy that you helped their business so much. I’m not too sure how the population of Camarillo, Fillmore and Santa Paula will feel about the increased trucking activity in their areas, plus the added pollution to the air in transporting the product. Have you asked them how they feel about it?
I think the Ojai Valley folks need to start being wary of this Coalition. It is their claim that it is only one phase of their agenda. In paraphrasing famous poem:
“First they came for the trucks, but I’m not a trucker so I did not speak out…”
Seriously, what is the rest of their agenda?
The illusion here is that those who run Stop the Trucks! care about the people in the valley … Im not saying Mosler is in the right, or that hundreds of trucks a day is acceptable. I’m glad there aren’t large hauling trucks going back to back all day and night, and I think that concerned citizens play a big role in that. Stop the Trucks! however, really, really wants us to believe that Mosler is the devil and his operation is killing our town. That’s just fanatical lunacy. If they didn’t make claims that were so ridiculously exagerated, I would be much more inclined to trust what they say. I drive Maricopa past NHS every day Stop the Trucks! You can’t fool me.
A lump of coal for Stop the Trucks! Are they buying Christmas dinner for all those working men and women laid off?
Tuesday, a vote by the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors put an END to Gravel Trucking on Route 33, Maricopa Highway, from the Cuyama Valley through Ojai to Oxnard and beyond!!!
This vote marks an end to one phase of our Five Year battle to block proposals that could have put more than 600 gravel trucks a day on Ojai’s roads!
And these excerpts from Wednesday’s Ventura County Star:
Mosler quarry heads for showdown before county Planning Commission
By Tony Biasotti Special to The Star
Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/dec/13/mosler-quarry-heads-for-showdown-before-county/#ixzz1gTSUjxWv
The conflict between the county and Larry Mosler will move Thursday to the Ventura County Planning Commission, which could order Mosler to shut down his rock quarry near Ojai…
…The record the Planning Commission will consider Thursday is nearly 700 pages long, with letters from the Ojai City Council and the Ojai Stop the Trucks coalition, which want Mosler’s permit revoked.
County planners recommend Mosler be put out of business in part because he has not posted the proper “financial assurance,” essentially a bond that mine owners in California must pay if the owner fails to clean up the mine, leaving the government holding the bill….
The county wants him to pay the cost of a full cleanup, which could be nearly $3 million.
…The Ventura County Planning Division also says Mosler owes it just under $100,000 for permits and site inspections. According to this week’s report to the commission, Mosler has been behind on these payments since March 2009.
…Between 2008 and 2010, his mine was cited for 14 Planning Division violations, including mining areas outside his permit and operating outside the county’s approved hours.
But the struggle is not over!
On Thursday, the Ventura County Planning Commission will vote on a motion to revoke the Permit for the Ojai Quarry. We need your continued support!
We urge you all to attend and SUPPORT the Planning Division’s move to revoke the C.U.P. for the Ojai Quarry.
The hearing is expect to last most of the morning, if not most of the day.
Please attend for at least part of the day to show your SUPPORT of the move to revoke the quarry’s Conditional Use Permit.
If you attend and plan to speak, you need to fill out a speaker card and mark it SUPPORT the revocation.
The position of the Ojai “Stop the Trucks” Coalition on the Ojai Quarry is very simple:
The Rule of Law exists and the no business – not even a quarry operator – is above it.
Quarries in California operate under Federal and State laws and a County “Conditional Use Permit.” An owner who consistently falls to comply, forfeits the right to operate.
Over the past two years the State of California Office of Mine Reclamation, the Ventura County Planning Division, and the Ventura County Planning Commission have repeatedly found fault with the operation of this quarry and are now moving to shut it down.
The only ones responsible for the possible shut down of the quarry in Ojai – and the consquences of that shut down – are the owners themselves.
And in regards rocks for the Watershed Protection District and other necessary projects?
There are legally qualified quarries in Camarillo and Moorpark that can easily supply the County’s needs.
Tear down Matilija Dam. Put the material where the quarry was. Fill in the gaps with the guck from behind the dam. Plant native chaparral in the guck. All of the truckers who would have been put out of work due to the quarry closure can be part of the fleet that transports the material from the dam. Finally, excuse the fine against Mosler. Give him fair market value for his property, using the money it would have taken to prosecute him.