Wrightwood residents fight a quarry they never saw coming

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Set us as preferred When residents of Wrightwood, a pine-studded village near Mt.Baldy, learned that a massive quarry was planned nearby, they followed a familiar playbook.They organized a nonprofit, drafted a petition and raised funds for a legal challenge.

They created T-shirts, ball caps and tote bags.They won support from powerful politicians.But they may be seven years too late.By the time they learned about the quarry planned on 420 acres in lush Lone Pine Canyon, where ultra-high purity calcium carbonate would be extracted by blasting down about 1,600 feet across open pits, the project had long ago received a key approval.

In 2019, after two meetings that flew so under the radar that only one member of the public spoke out, the San Bernardino County Planning Commission voted 3 to 2 to grant “vested rights” to the quarry, exempting the project from a comprehensive environmental review.The nonprofit recently formed by the residents, called the Lone Pine Canyon Protection Alliance, has petitioned for a reconsideration of the Planning Commission’s decision.

State wildlife officials have raised concerns about the potential impact of the quarry on bumblebees, desert bighorn sheep, golden eagles and other creatures.More than 7,600 people have signed a petition calling for the full environmental review.The groundswell of opposition may still not be enough to stop the project.“People have so many questions about how this happened, what is this about, what are they doing,” said Melissa Manning, who like many other residents fears the project will churn up toxic dust, pollute the water table and clog wildfire evacuation routes.A quarry with vested rights must still clear a review of its reclamation plan for how the land will be restored once mining ends.

This spring, county officials proposed adopting an abbreviated ...