BLM Seeks Comments on an Environmental Assessment of Proposed Mining in El Paso Mountains

The Bureau of Land Management has issued an environmental assessment on California Portland Cement’s LaPozz Project proposal to mine a layer of hard siliceous rock from 34 acres of public land in the El Paso Mountains of eastern Kern County, Calif.

The site is a hill approximately 2½ miles east of California Highway 14, a mile north of Red Rock Canyon State Park, and roughly 15 miles southwest of Inyokern. (See locator map at http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/ridgecrest.html.)

California Portland Cement proposes to mine, load, and truck about 30,000 tons a year of the mined material to its cement plant near Mojave, where it will be used in the manufacture of cement. The company says that the blending of this material with its product will facilitate reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in accordance with the California Assembly Bill 32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act.   
   
Any authorization by BLM will be subject to measures designed to preserve public health and safety, ensure protection of endangered species, reclaim disturbed lands, and comply with pertinent state and federal laws, including the California Surface Mining & Reclamation Act.  The EA for this project is available online at http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/ridgecrest.html and at the Ridgecrest Field Office, 300 S. Richmond Rd., Ridgecrest, CA 93555.  Interested parties should provide the Ridgecrest Field Office with any comments or input for this assessment by Jan. 11, 2013.

Please contact Randall Porter, BLM Geologist, at (760) 384-5452 or rporter@blm.gov for questions and comments.

California Desert District   22835 Calle San Juan de Los Lagos, Moreno Valley, CA 92553