The high cost of low-priced aggregate

Deep-pit mine quarries may be good to own but they are not so good to live next to for humans, animals and plant life alike.

Because the proposed Liberty Quarry would be adjacent to the Santa Margarita Reserve and Santa Margarita River supplying Camp Pendleton with drinking water, the environmental fallout from “Liberty” Quarry will have a deleterious effect on that river and on all of God’s other creations.

Crystalline silica generated by blasting will permeate the air for miles around, many people will develop breathing problems and cases of incurable silicosis are likely to develop.

These mines, trying to cut this dust, will be using an abundance of precious water, cutting into water availability to the public during droughts and emergencies. Our dwindling water resources should be more responsibly used.

There are no good reasons to bring quarries into this area, and when Granite Construction says it’s because we “need cheap aggregate,” they’re implying they are filling a need. But Granite doesn’t guarantee their product will be cheaper than materials already available.

If Granite succeeds, we all will pay a huge price in failing health and changes in local environment. That’s the inevitable fallout of moving a polluting business into the middle of a few million people.

At present, a UCLA group is studying possible damaging effects to people and animals as a result of constant dynamiting, which generates “P-waves” that cause changes to the ground similar to the onset of an earthquake. UCLA is now examining their effects on the human nervous system.

Since there may be no stopping Rosemary’s Mountain, the company feels emboldened to try to move in with yet another quarry. And that’s the rub. When you let one bordello in, the others are never far behind.

Why can’t Granite act responsibly and build those dirty monsters away from civilization hubs so quarries are where people aren’t?

Why can’t elected officials who know the public doesn’t want these quarries act responsibly and represent us by saying no to Granite and its dirty and dangerous quarries?

Michele Bain