Action Alert: Lehigh Reclamation Plan

WHAT IS HAPPENING AND WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (Midpen) Midpen Board of Directors will hold their Lehigh/Heidelberg Annual Meeting on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. At this meeting, the Midpen board of directors will receive a presentation from Lehigh/Heidelberg staff. Discussion is expected to focus on the latest 2023 Reclamation Plan Amendment application submitted to Santa Clara County. 

We all rejoiced when Lehigh/Heidelberg announced the closure of the cement plant and lessening of quarry activities. This  has led to a significant decrease in the deposition of airborne dust from the Quarry property into neighborhoods and open space. However,  Lehigh/Heidelberg remains a threat to our communities.  

The new 2023 reclamation plan proposes to import construction/demolition materials to fill the main quarry pit in lieu of using the quarry’s stored mining-waste (WMSA) stockpile. This would:

  • Result in 600 truck trips a day for 30 years - think traffic and emissions!

  • Leave the WMSA stockpile as a permanent feature on the landscape, with risk of landslides into Permanente Creek or Rancho San Antonio  Preserve. 

  • Leave the ridgeline that separates the quarry from Midpen’s Open Space land unprotected, potentially for decades. 

In addition, the new 2023 reclamation plan:

  • Does not provide sufficient restoration to improve habitat connectivity through the future reclaimed quarry landscape.

  • Does not provide restoration of Permanente Creek

  • Does not preserve surrounding undeveloped open space lands on the Quarry property in Palo Alto and Cupertino

Heidelberg’s near-term and long-term management of the property remains problematic and opaque, especially for the eventual planned transfer upon cessation of commercial production activities to another entity. 

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Use the information provided in this alert to express your concerns: 

  1. Email the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Board of Directors. Please use the public comment form here
    Note the meeting date is 7/26 and it is Item 6.

  2. Participate in the meeting
    The meeting starts at 7PM (although this item may be heard a little after 7PM). You may watch on  ZOOM and speak on Agenda Item 6 (if you’d like to speak, please REGISTER IN ADVANCE. Follow directions here.

Or you may attend in person at the Districts headquarters at 5050 El Camino Real, Los Altos.

Thank you