UPDATE: Coastal Commission Unanimously Approves Cemex Closure at CSUMB Hearing

[Catherine Crockett]

After more than 100 years of extensive sand mining in the City of Marina, CA, the last coastal sand mine in the U.S. will finally be shut down.  On July 13, 2017, the California Coastal Commission unanimously approved a settlement agreement to close the Cemex sand mining operation in Marina.

The proposed settlement limits extraction of sand during the three-year Phase Out period, (through ,December 31, 2020), to 240,000 tons per year.  The agreement also provides another three years without any additional sand extraction, in order to wind down all operations and allow for employee transitions. It also provides for restoration and reclamation activities to encourage the recovery of the habitat values.  Cemex must sell the property at a reduced value to a Coastal Commission approved nonprofit, agency or business that will use the land for conservation, public access, education or managed recreational purposes only. 

Thank you, everyone who turned out for the meeting to encourage the Commissioners to approve settlement. We are grateful to staff at the Coastal Commission for their commitment and perseverance, and for their efforts in negotiating a comprehensive settlement.  The hard work and actions of Kathy Biala, Marina Mayor, Bruce Delgado, the Marina city attorney, and the Marina City Council were crucial in reaching this settlement.  We are grateful to the City of Seaside too, for officially supporting the settlement by submitting a letter to the Coastal Commission.

We also thank our friends at Monterey Chapter Surfrider Foundation and Save our Shores who collaborated to lead the grassroots effort against sand mining, building a coalition of organizations like Sustainable Seaside, Sustainable Marina, and Sand Matters, and others, who applied constant pressure ceaselessly. 

We also acknowledge the commitment and work of coastal engineer, Professor Ed Thornton, who championed the shutdown of the plant for 30 plus years, and Professor Gary Griggs, director of the Institute of Marine Sciences at UC-Santa Cruz, both of whom studied the coastline for decades and produced peer-reviewed, published studies documenting the damaging impact of sand mining. 

We thank Cemex too, for negotiating in good faith to reach this settlement which delivers a good outcome for Monterey County’s environment and economy - avoiding potentially years of litigation.

 

News Articles:

Monterey Herald, by James Herrera, 7-13-17
http://www.montereyherald.com/government-and-politics/20170713/coastal-commission-votes-to-close-cemex-in-marina-last-coastal-sand-mining-plant-in-us

 

Monterey County Weekly, by David Schmalz, 7-13-17
http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/blogs/news_blog/coastal-commission-unanimously-approves-order-to-shut-down-cemex-mine/article_d0804c9c-681a-11e7-8771-9be14d2ac02e.html

 

Group photo taken outside the World Theater at CSUMB in the “free speech zone”.
By Jennifer Savage,  California Policy Manager and photo-journalist for Surfrider Foundation

 

Best wishes,
Catherine Crockett