The Sonoma County Democratic Party, at a March 23 meeting of its Central Committee, approved a resolution to oppose permitting and approval of the proposed Roblar Road Quarry project.

The SCDP agrees with the California Regional Water Quality Control Board that since the proposed quarry is adjacent to the closed, unlined Roblar Road Landfill, there exists a significant likelihood that wastewater discharged from the quarry would impact ground and surface waters and violate County water quality objectives.

Stephen Gale, Chair of the Sonoma County Democratic party stated: “Since the Regional Water Quality Control Board has determined that the Final Environmental Impact Report for the proposed Roblar Road Quarry does not outline a clear plan to avoid ground and surface water impacts, we urge County officials to deny permitting and approval for this project.”

Full text of the resolution follows:

Sonoma County Democratic Party Resolution in Opposition to Proposed Roblar Road Quarry

WHEREAS, the proposed Roblar Road Quarry abuts the site of an old, closed (1975), unlined, uncapped County waste disposal landfill in operation prior to implementation of strict EPA regulations and would be directly impacted by the activities of the proposed adjacent pit-mining operation; and

WHEREAS, the County of Sonoma is  responsible "in perpetuity" not only for the municipal waste placed in the closed landfill, including any leachate and groundwater contamination resulting from it, but also for maintaining the stability of the site from erosion (both seismic and static events) that leads to contamination (inclusive of wetlands), and, if the County is found to be in violation of EPA Water Code regulations, for any costs related to that violation, its investigation, and its corrective remedies, which the California Regional Water Quality Control Board states could be considerable; and

WHEREAS, the CRWQCB has conveyed to the County serious and wide-ranging  concerns related to this proposal, including the inadequacy of the project proponents and the FEIR to identify or determine levels of landfill pollutants, provide pertinent hydrologic data, or to "properly disclose," address, or mitigate potential erosive disturbance/destabilization of the landfill site or impacts of released waste leachate to surface water, ground water, or nearby surface waters, causing degradation of domestic, municipal, and wetlands water resources due to quarry blasting and pit-mining operations;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the SCDP urges denial of the permit request and rejection by the Sonoma County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors of the proposed Roblar Road Quarry as a project posing a perceivable likely threat to domestic, municipal, and wetlands water quality, which would place the County in violation of state Water Quality codes with costly consequences for taxpayers.

Approved March 23, 2010 by the Sonoma County Democratic Party