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Please correct us if we have the facts wrong. And if it is true...

We would appreciate an explanation as to how this happened and who made that decision. We want to know on what basis decisions were made to increase these hours. We want to know why it is that Ozena seems to be - and correct me if I am wrong - getting a free pass on the original conditions while they go for an EIR on new standards that have zero chance of getting eventual approval. Did any one in Planning actually review Ozena's truck records to see if they were even compliant with past conditions before you loosened the flood gates?

Your reply in writing would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Howard Smith

----- Original Message -----
From: "Scott Ellison"
To: "Howard Smith" " Nao Braverman"
Sent: Monday, April 30, 2007 8:00 AM
Subject: Re: Ojai Valley News: EIR Request Seen As Victory by "Stop the Trucks" campaign

As the project case planner for the Ozena mine, I would like to correct a couple of things in the following release:

1. The current permit only allows 66 daily truck trips (ADT), not the 132 ADT cited in the release. The applicant is ASKING for an additional 66 ADT or a total of 132 ADT for existing and new trips.

2. The existing 66 ADT are unrestricted as to what route they take (although they are restricted as to the time of day they can travel through the Ojai Valley). As such, all 66 ADT can travel through the Ojai now if customer demand justifies it.

3. NONE of the proposed additional 66 trips would be allowed to travel through the Ojai at any time. The project description in the MND explicitly limits those trips to only going north. That means that even if the project is approved as proposed by the operator, there would be NO increase in the allowable trips through the Ojai Valley.

As an additional piece of information:

4. Since the operator can start loading trucks at 3:00 am now, empty trucks can be running north through the Ojai at 2:00 am and loaded trucks can be coming back through the Ojai by 4:00 am. The proposed project would move the start time to 4:30 am which shifts the empty trucks to 3:30 am and the full trucks to no earlier than 5:30. While the new start time is still early, it is later than the existing allowed time * we assume later is better than earlier.

Without the reader having the above information, the release clearly implies that approval of the Ozena mine would result in many additional truck trips through the Ojai than already exists. However, that is not true. I hope this clarifies what the actual project description is. If you have any questions on this issue please feel free to contact me.

Scott L. Ellison
Ventura County Planning Division
(805) 654-2495 fax 2509
Scott.Ellison@ventura.org
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1. The Stop the Trucks Coalition is organizing a community rally in Ojai for Tuesday, May 15 at Chaparral Auditorium at 7:00pm. Come learn more about what we’re doing to reduce excessive truck traffic and how you can help.

The coalition is fighting various Gravel Mine applications that could potentially put up to 400 trucks a day, 24 hours a day, seven days a week thru Ojai and Route 33 to Cuyama. That's one truck every five minutes around the clock.

The group is also concerned about the economic, environmental and safety impact on our community. Instead of an industrial route for trucks, we want to preserve it for the original intention: public use, accessing national forest. It runs past Nordhoff High School, past Ojai Hospital, Villanova [Prepatory School], Miramonte Elementary. We’d like to get it closed down completely. We do not believe trucks should be using that route.”

Scheduled meeting speakers include Supervisor Steve Bennett, Howard Smith, Ojai Mayor Carol Smith, Ojai Chamber CEO Scott Eicher, Ojai Unified School District Supervisor Tim Baird and Forest Watch Executive Director Jeff Kuyper.

2. Victory! Ventura County Reverses Course, Decides to Prepare Full EIR for Ozena Mine

In a stunning victory today, the Ozena Valley Gravel Mine operation caved into public pressure created by your letters, emails and press articles and agreed to have the Ventura County Planning Department oversee a full Environmental Impact Report before approving the Ozena proposal. This move sets the project back several months, and means that the public hearing scheduled for May has been postponed – quite possibly for several months or years.

The Ozena Mine was permitted to send as many as 100 truck trips per day along Scenic Highway 33. Last year, the permit for the mine expired, and the mine operator submitted an application to Ventura County to double the number of trucks and to continue mining there for another five years.

But before Ventura County could approve the expansion, it first had to conduct environmental studies required by the California Environmental Quality Act. These studies were of the utmost importance, analyzing the effects of mining on air quality, groundwater supplies, rare plants and animals, and quality of life. However, instead of analyzing these impacts in a full Environmental Impact Report (EIR), the County instead decided to prepare a less-detailed Negative Declaration.

The County’s draft Negative Declaration concluded – with little supporting evidence – that the mine expansion would not cause any significant impacts. Several agencies and organizations, including Los Padres ForestWatch, the Ojai Valley Municipal Advisory Council, Concerned Residents of Lockwood Valley, Concerned Cuyama Valley Citizens, Cuyama Unified School District, California Department of Fish and Game, City of Ojai, County of Santa Barbara, and the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District, along with many residents, wrote letters to the County identifying deficiencies in the report and requesting a full EIR.

Today, we received word that the County has agreed to scrap the Negative Declaration and prepare a full EIR! This will have the immediate effect of postponing any mine expansion until at least next year. Most importantly, it will ensure that the County improves its environmental study, and will give local residents additional opportunities to voice their concerns.

The County had planned a public hearing next month before the Ventura County Planning Commission. At this hearing, the commission could have approved the expansion of the Ozena mine. Many of us have spent the last several months collecting information and conducting our own investigation into the matter, and we were prepared to appeal any Planning Commission approval that relied on a faulty environmental report.

We’re hopeful that the County will use this opportunity to better protect our forest and towns from excessive truck traffic. Thanks to everyone who wrote letters and worked behind the scenes on this issue – your voices were heard loud and clear!

3. Mark Your Calendars - Public Hearing for Diamond Rock Mine Scheduled for May 30 in Santa Maria

Despite today’s victory, our work on this issue is far from over. The proposed Diamond Rock Sand and Gravel Mine and Processing Facility could be approved by the Santa Barbara Planning Commission on Wednesday, May 30, at a public hearing in Santa Maria. The hearing will begin promptly at 9:00am.

Several buses and carpools will depart Ojai and the Cuyama Valley. Even though the location of this hearing is inconvenient for many of us, it’s extremely important that we pack the hearing room! We need to send a message loud and clear that we won’t stand for excessive truck traffic through our forest and towns. Stay tuned for more details as the day gets closer.

The Diamond Rock mine is slated for several miles downstream of the Ozena Mine, and would add as many as 138 truck trips per day through our forest and towns during peak production. The proposed mining site is located in Santa Barbara County, just over the Ventura County line.

Santa Barbara County prepared a draft EIR for the Diamond Rock mine, and in January, more than 300 concerned citizens wrote letters to the County voicing their concerns about excessive truck traffic on Highway 33. The final EIR is scheduled to be released to the public sometime during the next few days.