By Christian Mignot

Photo by Monique Schoenfeld, Town Crier

Los Altos residents want ’scar’ on hills removed, longtime view restored

When people think of views in Los Altos, most imagine sweeping golden hills covered with healthy green trees, dipped in the glow of the evening sun. Views like this are enjoyed by many residents, including those living in south Los Altos, near the city border with Cupertino, who face the hills owned by the mining company, Hanson Permanente Cement.

For more than 60 years, Kaiser Permanente - and now, Hanson - has kept its limestone retrieval hidden, for the most part, from Los Altos. The quarry tucked away its operations behind the hills, preserving the view of residents in the area surrounding the Los Altos Golf and Country Club. Recently, however, residents in this area have expressed concern over a brown scar that has appeared on the hillside, slightly defacing the view they have enjoyed for many years.

Don Lathrop, a resident of the San Antonio Hills area of Los Altos, is one of those who has taken great pleasure in the view since he moved here in 1963. When he noticed that the crest of the hill had turned brown earlier this year, he was worried that Hanson Permanente may have been mining over the hill.

“At first I thought they may have been building a dirt road along the top of the hill and that the dirt had tumbled down,” he said. “Since, I have been told that they were mining the crest, maybe even extending operations to this side of the hill, and as a result some dirt has spilled over, creating a brown scar.”

Cement plant operators have been mining in the hills above Cupertino since 1939, when the plant was set up to provide cement for the construction of Shasta Dam on the Sacramento River. Workers extract limestone, the vital and largest ingredient in the production of cement. The cement plant, named after Permanente Creek, which slices through the property, supplies one-third of Northern California’s cement, contributing significantly to the local economy and playing an integral part in the construction of Silicon Valley. Hanson purchased the plant from Kaiser in 1987.

In 1972, Kaiser Permanente, keen to maintain good relations with Los Altos-area residents, agreed to sign a scenic easement that forbade the retrieval of limestone below an elevation of 1,500 feet. The easement applied only to a small visible portion of the 3,600 acres of land owned, perhaps 150 yards along the crest of the first line of hills. Nearly 30 years later, Hanson Permanente maintains it has honored the agreement and has never had the intention to mine below the line.

Regardless of whether Hanson Permanente has mined below the agreed-upon line, residents are unhappy about the dirt slash clearly visible from their homes.

“I hate to call this a problem,” Lathrop said. “I am just a concerned citizen; I want to know what is going on. I hope that the brown slash will disappear and that future mining operations will not affect our beautiful view.”

One resident, who requested anonymity, claimed that Hanson Permanente was taking unusable rock and dumping it on the Los Altos side of the hill. The company has pursued this practice before, in other parts of the property, but has always planted seedlings and trees as part of its “reclamation plan” to restore vegetation afterwards. In fact, John Giovanola, Hanson Permanente’s community relations manager, agreed that the dumping of unusable material may be the cause of the complaints, yet added that the dumping occurred in areas that were not covered by the scenic easement, invariably areas that would be reclaimed according to company policy.

In the past, Kaiser Permanente was recognized for establishing a healthy relationship with the local community. The plant underwent a modernization program in 1981 that turned it into one of the most advanced cement plants in the world and an environmental leader in Silicon Valley.

For example, to limit the amount of dust displaced in daily operations, several measures have been put in place, which Hanson has continued. Many roads on site have been paved, and all other dirt roads are kept moist to avoid dust displacement when trucks travel on them. Filters were installed on some clinker cooler stacks to reduce the amount of particles entering into the air. Furthermore, two truck washers ensure dust and dirt is minimized on every truck that leaves the plant. Hanson Permanente also owns mobile vacuum units that regularly patrol Foothill Expressway and Stevens Creek Boulevard to collect the dust that may accumulate.

“We do our best to be good neighbors, and I believe we have succeeded,” Giovanola said. “It’s important as we could be mining here for at least 20 more years.”

“I think they are good neighbors,” Lathrop said. “But if they have extended operations to this side of the hill, all I want is to call people’s attention to it.”

So far, there is no clear understanding between residents and Hanson Permanente as to what the dirt slash could be. Residents raised the issue at a June 27 town hall meeting held by county Supervisor Liz Kniss. Kniss and her staff said the situation would be looked into and resolved.

“We will first get a status report on the situation with respect to the Scenic Easement, land use rules and other issues,” said Tony Winnicker, a spokesman for Santa Clara County Supervisor Liz Kniss. “Then we will sit down with both residents and Hanson Permanente and work something out so that the view is conserved and mining operations go on.”

“The meetings with Supervisor Kniss are going to be very productive,” Los Altos Councilman John Moss assured residents at the town hall meeting.

Moss, who has taken a tour of the quarry, said Hanson’s presence nearby assures a less expensive supply of cement, and therefore, keeps building costs lower than what they could be if the cement had to be trucked in from far away.

Still, despite being apprised that the site from which Hanson mines is the richest supply of limestone west of the Mississippi River, some residents at the town hall meeting seemed clearly tired of putting up with the operations of a cement plant.

“Is that the only place they can make cement in the country?” asked one.

“The county can condemn (the property),” said another. “I wouldn’t mind paying more property tax if it means (no) trucks.”

Between 400 and 500 trucks carrying concrete and rocks travel in and out of the quarry daily.

There are several restrictions on how much action the county will be able to take. Primarily, this is due to the fact that Hanson Permanente’s predecessor, Kaiser, bought the land before the county issued restrictive land use permits. Furthermore, the limestone being mined by Hanson is a state special resource and therefore may fall under state jurisdiction, taking power away from local government. Finally, it is unclear how enforceable the Scenic Easement is, or whether it even applies to the situation at hand.

Through all this uncertainty, all parties are clear on one point: a quick resolution of this problem is best.

“We are happy to work with the residents and the county to do what is necessary to solve the concern quickly,” Giovanela said.

“Hopefully we will be able to have our green backdrop back as soon as possible,” Lathrop said.

With the county, the residents and Hanson Permanente Cement all willing to find a quick resolution, the small dirt scar dividing Hanson Permanente’s side of the hill from the residents’ side may soon heal and disappear, leaving the sunlit landscape once again naturally beautiful.