RE: 'Granite Quarry faces opposition at open house' [Village News, 6/26/08]

I attended the information meeting Granite Construction held on June 10 at the Temeku Golf Club. None of Granite’s experts live in Fallbrook, Rainbow, Bonsall or Temecula, and these are the areas that will be impacted by the air, noise and traffic pollution of the proposed Liberty Quarry. The closest resident lives in Oceanside; one lives in Hemet; the rest live in San Diego, Indio, San Clemente, Sacramento, Denver and their air pollution expert lives in Alberta, Canada.

Granite Construction claims that our area needs the aggregate that would be mined from this quarry to use for the local improvement of highways 76, 15 and 5. However, they have already begun their work at Rosemary’s Mountain at the intersection of highways 15 and 76, and this mine will be in operation for 20 years. I’m sure that it will provide an adequate supply of aggregate for our area. We do not need the Liberty Quarry mine, which would be the largest open-pit mine in the United States.

When the 2.2 million tax dollars the quarry would generate for Riverside County and the $6.1 million for the state is spread over the 75 years the mine would be in operation, the annual tax income from this proposed mine would be very small. However, Granite Construction would make billions of dollars. I see no advantages to local homeowners. Do you?

Marilee Ragland

Rainbow