After 84 years, the cement kiln at Lehigh Quarry – the largest single source of air pollution in Santa Clara County – will now be shut down for good and demolished as a result of a legally binding agreement entered into with Santa Clara County. Lehigh has also withdrawn its earlier request to expand its...
Category: Lehigh
Biggest Step Yet to Close Lehigh Quarry
Last month we received the great news that Lehigh Quarry operators were shutting down the kiln at the Lehigh cement plant and stopping all further mining. However, other parts of Lehigh’s operations at the site could continue for up to 20 years. This makes it vitally important for Santa Clara County to take action to...
Ask Supervisors to Begin Closing Lehigh’s Cement Plant
Update: On December 13, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to ask the County Planning Commission to consider revoking the use permit for the Lehigh Quarry cement plant based on its legal violations and because the plant constitutes a public nuisance. On Tuesday, December 13, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will decide whether...
Ask Supervisors to Make Lehigh Quarry Pay for Violations
On Tuesday, June 7, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will receive a report summarizing the more than 2,100 known legal violations Lehigh Quarry and cement plant have been cited for during the last 10 years by local, state, and federal agencies. Please ask the Supervisors to finally begin imposing its own fines on...
Taking Action to Acquire, Protect, and Restore Lehigh Quarry
For the past century, Lehigh Quarry has been the site of a limestone mining operation and cement plant that has ravaged more than 800 acres of land in the hills outside Cupertino, and indirectly damaged much more land near Rancho San Antonio Park. Now Santa Clara County has a chance to acquire, protect, and restore...
Ask Supervisors to Support Steps to Close Lehigh Quarry
On Tuesday, February 15, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will decide if staff should investigate options for purchasing Lehigh Quarry and cement plant, potentially ending decades of air and water pollution. The ravaged moonscape of the quarry could finally begin habitat restoration to the benefit of all. Please ask the Supervisors to support...
County Votes To Share Protection of Lehigh Ridgeline Easement
Great news! On August 17, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the agreement to share with Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District the enforcement of the environmentally protective easement on Lehigh Quarry. Thank you for taking action – you helped make this happen! We look forward to better protection of the easement and...
Ask County Supervisors: Support Better Enforcement of Ridgeline Easement at Lehigh Quarry
On Tuesday, August 17, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will decide whether to better enforce environmental protection at Lehigh Quarry by sharing some enforcement authority with Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. Please ask the Supervisors to share environmental enforcement at Lehigh Quarry. What’s Happening For decades, Lehigh has been operating the largest active...
“Don’t Chop the Top” Has First Success
This month, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors took the first long-needed step to protect a hillside that is part of Lehigh Quarry, the giant quarry scarring the hills above Cupertino and Los Altos Hills. County staff will now begin researching better ways to enforce protection of the hillside Lehigh has been damaging. Thank...
Supervisors Step Toward Better Ridgeline Protection at Lehigh Quarry
On Tuesday, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors unanimously directed staff to investigate sharing enforcement authority with Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District over a ridgeline easement on Lehigh Quarry property. Thank you to all of you who asked the Supervisors to support the referral to staff. Why It’s Important For decades, Lehigh has been...