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CC 07-15-2025 Oral CommunicationsCC 07-15-2025 Oral Communications Written Comments From:Kirsten Squarcia To:City Clerk Subject:FW: 2023 Reclamation Plan Amendment for the Lehigh Permanente Quarry Date:Monday, July 14, 2025 1:49:43 PM Attachments:To Robert Salisbury – Department of Planning and Development County of Santa Clara.docx Robert Salisbury – Project Manager – Santa Clara County.docx Lehigh Permanente Quarry Reclamation Plan Amendment CA Mine ID 91.docx Please post with oral comms written comments Kirsten Squarcia Interim Deputy City Manager/City Clerk City Manager's Office KirstenS@cupertino.gov (408) 777-3225 From: Cathy Helgerson <cathyhelger@gmail.com> Sent: Sunday, July 13, 2025 5:54 AM To: Salisbury, Robert <robert.salisbury@pln.sccgov.org> Cc: BoardOperations <boardoperations@cob.sccgov.org>; Miller, Amy <miller.amy@epa.gov>; City Clerk <cityclerk@cupertino.org> Subject: 2023 Reclamation Plan Amendment for the Lehigh Permanente Quarry CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Hello Robert, I have not heard from you and still wish you to call me. I am sending you my comments on the 2023 Reclamation Plan Amendment for the Lehigh Permanente Quarry. I already sent you the Summary comments please add this to this paperwork. I have also attached them in this email message. I would like all of my comments to be provided to the Santa Clara County Board members for their review. These comments should be eventually available to the public to review. I will be also commenting in the future on the Environment Impact Report (EIR) and understand that the Consultant will take some time to create this report. This process needs to be carried out with the utmost haste. There is no time to lose. Much time has been lost already and the public suffers from the pollution to the Air, Water and Soil. Santa Clara County is hosting a meeting at the Quinlan Community Center at the end of the month and I do hope the EPA Region 9 agency's representatives will be there. I have contacted the EPA Region 9, Amy Miller's office to see if she will be there or her representative will be there. It is very important that the EPA is included in this meeting. I would also imagine the City of Cupertino's City Council members will be in attendance not just in the audience but on the panel so that people can ask them questions. This is necessary because the City of Cupertino will be highly impacted by the additional truck traffic on our roads due to this Reclamation. There are other reasons that they should be included and I am sure SCC knows what they are. I am sending my comments to the EPA Region 9, Amy Miller's for her review. I have included the City of Cupertino's City Clerk.s office to make sure that the City Council gets my comments. This is very important. that they are also on the panel. If you have not added them then you should. I have also attached my comments about the Consultant Agreement.& my 2023 Reclamation Plan Amendment Comments are also included in this e-mail. The complete Lehigh 2023 Reclamation Plan Amendment is available through Robert Salisbury' office Santa Clara County Planning Department. Anyone with questions please contact me by phone or e-mail message. Thank you, Cathy Helgerson - Environmental Advocate 408-253-0490 Lehigh Permanente Quarry Reclamation Plan Amendment CA Mine ID 91-43-0004 June 2023 Operator Lehigh Southwest Cement Company, Heidelberg Materials Volume I of IV: Reclamation Plan Amendment Text and Graphics. Under Requirements, Descriptions Reclamation Sections. To: Lead Agency – Santa Clara County, Department of Planning and Development From: Cathy Helgerson 1. Summary 1.1 Purpose 1 Production Amounts (Annual Gross) Paragraph 1 – An average of 750,000 tons of construction aggregates annually a minimum of 7 MT of stockpiles construction aggregates contained within the Quarry, WMSA, and surge pile. Cathy Helgerson – Comments- Who is monitoring closely the pollution that has contained selenium and other contaminants supposedly it is supposed to be the State Regional Water Quality Control Departments. The public is never given a report this should be provided to the public with information on how this pollution is controlled. Paragraph 2 – Average of 500,000 cubic yards of imported excess soil from regional construction used for quarry backﬁll, cover of historic mine waste materials, and buttress for long-term stability of quarry highwalls development prior to current geotechnical requirements. Cathy Helgerson – Comments- 50,000 cubic yards of imported soil who is monitoring the quality purity of this soil? The soils will be brought in from site locations of contractors who want to pay Lehigh to have this soil dumped into the quarry pit. Lehigh is making money from this to pay for the Reclamation. There will be many trucks going back and forth and a lot of this soil will be leaked on to public roads and freeways. Lehigh’s use of the Stevens Creek Road that is coming down from Cement Plant and quarry is in poor shape from all the truck traﬃc and Santa Clara County and the City of Cupertino do nothing to repair the road. It seems that this Reclamation Plan will take 40 years to complete and the public will be subjected to this ongoing traﬃc and pollution problems. The Steven Creek Quarry is also using the Foothill Road and Steven Creek Road to deliver their products which also streams into the 280 Freeway. In the coming years the 280 Freeway will also be used for the traﬃc coming from the new Vallco apartments and commercial stores more people more traﬃc. The Apple Computer Company is using the roads in Cupertino also and the 280 Freeway will be congested with all kinds of traﬃc. Just covering the mine waste at the WMSA & EMSA is not enough. This overall mine waste overburden should be trucked out from the Lehigh property and not used in the quarry at all due to the pollution. The mine waste has been full of selenium and other pollutants for years the public has been subjected to this pollution that has streamed down the Permanente Creek and the Steven Creek. The valleys water quality is seriously at stake here. There has been little if any information as to the water quality and the use or no use of the Lehigh Wastewater treatment plant. What levels qualify that the water will be treated at the plant no one has ever provided information to the public why are we to assume that all or none of the water needs to be treated. The water in the quarry is not just rain water there is water also seeping in to the quarry from the aquifer below this has been happening for multiple decades and there is a seepage report that Santa Clara County has and the public is not provided this information. Lehigh water pollution from the whole property even in the ponds is polluted. The State Water Regional Control Division maybe monitoring this along with Santa Clara County but it seems that the public is not supposed to know exactly what the pollution levels are and how have they decided what is to be cleaned and what is not. This water coming down from the Steven Creek Reservoir is polluted from the Stevens Creek Quarry which is added to the Lehigh water pollution this all eventually goes down the Stevens Creek and the Permanente Creek. The whole SF Bay Area is subjected to pollution of our aquifers and it seem that nothing is being related to the public. I am very concerned about the imported excess soil that Lehigh wished to import from constructions site projects how can we the public be sure that this soil is not contaminated with all kinds of pollution? At what level does the EPA and the State Regional Water Quality Control allow? The public again are not notiﬁed about any of this. What are the geotechnical requirements exactly? The contaminants levels are set high by the EPA and one has to wonder. What happens to the cumulativeness of all of the serious water pollution they are mixing and become even more of a health and a safety situation. It seems that these pollution levels are also set based on the companies that have to operate if the levels are set as to create a situation that would close the facilities down than the EPA needs to take that into account as well. If the pollution levels are so strong and it is so then the company emitting these pollution levels has to correct the problem. But if the levels are midpoint nothing is done about and the cumulative eﬀect is not even looked at. I do hope that once the EIR is published that things like the cumulative eﬀect of the pollutants will be seriously looked at. The driving force here should be to keep the public safe from these pollutants. The agencies, SCC, valley cities, and especially the City of Cupertino need to come together and work to secure that Lehigh Hanson Permanente Heidelberg land is completely free from pollution. The cumulative consideration of pollutants and how they interact with a strong potency not ever considered. End of Date Operations – December 31, 2065 (for reclamation planning purposes) Cathy Helgerson – comments – 40 years from 2025 to complete the Lehigh Reclamation plan is to long a time. Lehigh will be allowed to import soil from construction sites and the companies will pay to have this soil/overburden possibly polluted soil dumped in the Lehigh Quarry pit. This soil mixed with WMSA soil and EMSA will contain Selenium and other pollutants. Who will monitor the soil content testing for contaminants and will it be cleaned through the Lehigh Water Treatment Plant? Lehigh is or contractors are trucking in the soil this makes way for contaminated soil to be dumped into the pit. We should not forget the cumulativeness of the pollution released into the air, spilled on the ground which eventually reaches our water ways. The Permanente Creek will undergo and be subject to a great deal of pollution as the overburden is moved from all sites at Lehigh. We have seen what the Lehigh pollution has done to the creek in the past and we the public are waiting for a full restoration of the creek to this day. Seems all we do is wait and wait for justice to prevail my question is why are the agencies not pushing for what is necessary to complete work on the Permanente Creek? The Lehigh Reclamation plan is holding up this work and I believe the Permanente Creek Restoration is held hostage question is how can the creek be restored if Lehigh is in Reclamation? I have been told that the writing of the EIR by the SCC consultant and the review of the comments could take up to two years. This is unacceptable and everything possible should be done to speed this process up. The agencies need to be totally involved and working to move things along steadfastly. Permit Number and End Date – No use permit on vested property 2.5 RPS Cathy Helgerson -comments – I have always objected to the allowance of vested rights on the Lehigh properties and Santa Clara County should never have allowed it or continued this lack of a legitimate permit necessity. The public because of this has been subjected to Lehigh’s pollution not only by the cement plant but from all of the areas on the Lehigh property. The Rock Plant is still in operation and Santa Clara County has allowed this to continue with its contamination. Why is Lehigh not held accountable for the harm they have done. There are also silos that are used to house product and these silos should also be shut down and destroyed. The Cement plant needs to be torn down de-assembled it is a ﬁre hazard. Lehigh and or PG& E has only tapped oﬀ the gas line this is not enough. There was a ﬁre at Lehigh at one time I was told. If there ever was a forest ﬁre that actually spread to the Cement Plant the kiln furnace could explode this stands and is a great danger to the public and should be addressed by the agencies and Santa Clara County as a serious possibility. End Use – Reclaimed to a stabilized condition as open space consistent with County’s Hillside (HS) Zoning. Cathy Helgerson – comments - I am not in favor of the land being used as open space. The question here is can this Lehigh property be used for housing? Open space may just quality the land with less requirements. Should the land not be suitable for residential, parks and or commercial use it is important that the land be cleaned from the pollution in order to make this possible. What levels are allowed is of course based on the EPA and agencies regulations and pollution limits. My feeling is that the land all of Lehigh’s land should be suitable for these multiple uses and not just open space. There is a housing shortage and it is time that Santa Clara County looked at a possible purchase of the land. I had asked about this years ago and nothing was taken into account. Property Acreage – 3,510 acres RPS 2.1 Cathy Helgerson – comments – It seems that the New Reclamation Plan will not cover a clean up of all of the Lehigh property. It is stated Purpose the Acreage is reduced from 1,274 acres to 921 acres and (nearly 30 percent), which will consist of only the acres needed for processing stock piled aggregate and reclamation and closure work. This is unacceptable all of the Lehigh property needs to be completely cleaned up in order to protect the public from further harm from the pollution and contamination at Lehigh. This is very serious why are the agencies and Santa Clara County allowing this to happen? Permit Acreage – 2.1 – Operations under this plan occur on vested properties encompassing approximately 2,040 acres. The reclamation boundary encompasses 921 acres. Cathy Helgerson – comments – This is also unacceptable Lehigh needs to clean up all of the land 3,510 acres that they have polluted. Santa Clara County should have information from the EPA’s Super Fund Site investigation that was done years ago in order to really understand the importance of a major Super Fund site clean up or a full Reclamation clean up. The public cannot and will not accept anything less. Reclamation Acreage (Surface Disturbance) Reclamation surfaces encompass approximately 670 acres RPS 1- 2 Cathy Helgerson – comments – What is the level in feet with regards to surface soil 2% does not indicate the level to which the Quarry surface will allow this should be stated in the Summary and table? WMSA and EMSA- Graded information – Cathy Helgerson – comments – How much contaminated soil will be taken out from both the storage areas to be dumped int the quarry pit? Will the soil be tested? There should be listed how far down will they dig to remove the soil and deliver it to the quarry in feet? The coverup will not protect the public. Compaction – Skip Cut slopes – Quarry upper regraded 2H:1V RPS 4.1.3 and appendix 1 Cathy Helgerson – comments – There should be a break down listed on what will be added to the Quarry pit besides soil brought in from outside. Will there be large rocks dumped into the Quarry pit that would plug up the water that has been seeping into the pit? This water in the quarry is not just rain water but water that is seeping into the pit from the aquifer below. This aquifer is the Silicon Vally’s water. This has been allowed to happen and Santa Clara County has known about this and has a seepage report on ﬁle. Erosion 4.1.3 and appendix – Best Management Practices Cathy Helgerson – comments – Sedimentation basins who will monitor them and what are the pollution limits? There is also the Red Legged Frog to be protected will this protection continue and what will be done to make sure that they are continually protected? Should water from these ponds be treated and will they be treated by the Lehigh Waste Water Treatment Plant? What levels of pollution do these ponds retain? How will Santa Clara County and the agencies deal with continued pollution for the length of the Reclamation plan? Water from these ponds will be released into the Permanente Creek and eventually hit the San Francisco Bay how can we be sure that this water is clean? Grading – 4.6.4 and Append 1 – After Reclamation is complete, most surface runoﬀ from the Quarry, WMSA, EMSA and Permanente Creek area will return to Permanente Creek Cathy Helgerson – comment – It seems that there is no mention about the treatment of the water by the Lehigh Waste Water Treatment Plant. This water may have selenium a pollutant along with other pollutants who will monitor this pollution from the plant and what reports will be generated for the public to view? Ponds Capacity & Maintenance Design – Function – Settling Ponds for stormwater detention and sediment control. 4.6.1.462 and appendix I - Cont. Cathy Helgerson – comment – I have to mention again that there is no mention of the Red Legged Frog what will happen with the frogs that have been relocated will they be brought back to the Lehigh land which was their original home? The water all of it from the Lehigh ponds and property need to be treated and I have been told that that it is not. Seems there are certain levels of pollution that determine the ﬂow to the Lehigh Waste Water Treatment Plant. Other water that is allowed to ﬂow without treatment is not mentioned. Is the RWQCB testing this water? This needs to be stated in this summary and needs to be in the New Reclamation Plan. Stream and Wetland Protection Buﬀers (distance from channel Historic Operations Cont. Cathy Helgeson – comment – The sedimentation in the creek is subjected to the pollution from the Lehigh Quarry and the whole of Lehigh land. The Permanente Creek has been unrestored for decades and still counting it is still pending restoration the question is why? The Lehigh lands and all of it is full of pollution and so it seems this proposed Reclamation has been holding up the process and will continue to do so. Is this water coming from the Lehigh land all of it going down the Permanente Creek treated at the Lehigh Waste Water Treatment Plant? I have heard talk for many years that there is a great deal of question as to whether it is or not treated why is that? There is no word on the testing of this water and what are the pollution levels that need to be treated the public should be provided with this information. What will happen to the Waste Water Treatment Plant will it be used for the 40 years that they say the Reclamation plan will take? Will it be torn down or will another plant be needed to take its place in order to keep cleaning the waste from the Lehigh land? In the past I tried to get the Cupertino Sanitation Department to put in a line from Lehigh that would ﬂow down to the San Jose Sanitation Plant but they would not put one in. That is when they decided to build the Waste Water Treatment Plant which in my opinion was a waste of money. There is a great deal of information that the public is not getting about this matter and Santa Clara County should be answering many questions that have been left unanswered. City of Cupertino should be involved and hold meetings to educate the public. Best Management Practices – Section related to materials imported for purpose of backﬁll or cover purposes. Cathy Helgerson – comment – This imported soil used to cover the WMSA, EMSA, the quarry and any other area on the Lehigh Property needs to be tested to make sure that it is free from pollution before it is released. Sedimentation basins must also be tested for water quality especially for selenium and other contaminants. Will this water be treated at the Lehigh Waste Water Treatment Plant or just released without any treatment or testing? Levels of pollution are subject to the State Regionals Water Quality Divisions and the EPA – Environmental Protection Agencies rules and regulations pertaining to levels of pollution that are acceptable. My question has been how do we really know that the levels set are safe and that the public is really protected? I do not think that these levels are safe and I have to wonder again here about the cumulative eﬀect from the combined pollution contaminants and what does this do to the Silicon Valley’s water shed the aquifer has been polluted for decades. Drainage – Basins cont. reading Cathy Helgerson – comments – The basins that contain stormwater has the runoﬀ from the WMSA, EMSA, Rock Plant, and quarry as a whole all of which runs into the Permanente Creek and ﬁnally ends up in the Steven Creek and San Francisco Bay waters. Much of this water also drains into the aquifer below the ground that is the Silicon Valley’s drinking water shed. This water must be tested at the Lehigh Waste Water Treatment Plant before it is released. The Stevens Creek Quarry is also polluting the Steven Creek Reservoir, and the Stevens Creek this water commingles with the Permanente Creek and should be tested. The State Regional Water Quality Control is supposed to monitor this but it is and should be a question as to what levels of pollution are the public’s water subjected to? How do we know our drinking water is safe and or has it been treated to make it safe? Let ’s not forget the cumulative eﬀect of all of the pollution there is a list but I am not mentioning it here. I will continue to repeat myself on these serious matters. Grading and Slopes – No Comment Stockpiles – After materials suitable for construction cont. reading Cathy Helgerson – comments – Where is the material for construction aggregates coming from? The Lehigh Rock plant maybe an area that is ﬁlled with this material that has not been processed and sold. There are also the piles of overburden that can be seen from the Steven Creek Blvd. piled up on the foothill this is also waste material that no one will talk about. I have asked about this directing my inquires to the Santa Clara County Staﬀ who will not provide me with any information about this material my question is why not? I am not sure what this material is and what will it be used for this should be mentioned in the summary and also the Reclamation Plan. Just covering up the WMSA, EMSA and the quarry with construction aggregate or soil from construction sites is not enough. Just what is clean soil anyway? The Lehigh land all of it should be cleaned and made suitable for commercial and residential use. Putting up the land for Open Space will not qualify the Lehigh land use in the future decades to come. It should be noted here that the Lehigh land all of it should be subjected to an EPA Superfund Site cleanup. I requested an investigation many years ago and the EPA did an investigation of the Lehigh land and the Steven Creek Quarry land but failed to initiate a Superfund cleanup even thou it was necessary. This in my opinion was a crime in itself and there still needs to be such a clean up in order to protect the public from the ongoing pollution from the Lehigh Property and the Steven Creek Quarry property. How much longer is the public going to be subjected to this pollution no one really knows? Sensitive Wildlife and Plant Protection – Species – cont. reading Cathy Helgerson – comments - Let’s remember the Green Legged Frog no mention here what will be done the Lehigh property has been their home. It has been noted that they were and are being moved when they are found on the property will they be allowed to return? They must be protected. Protection Measures – Reclamatin Activities described in this Reclamation Plan are limited to existing areas of surface disturbances cont. reading Cathy Helgerson – comments – The Lehigh property should be cleaned up in order to make sure that the public is not subjected to the continued pollution that has polluted the people of the Silicon Valley and the SF Bay area. Just covering up the WMSA, EMSA and ﬁlling in the quarry pit with material is not enough. These areas and all of the Lehigh property are and have been endangering the health and safety of the public. The Permanente Creek and the Stevens Creek waters and land need to be fully restored and the agencies and Santa Clara County are responsible for the full clean up. In order to ensure that there is the EPA Superfund Site Division should oversea the clean up or conduct their own. I preferably feel that without an EPA Superfund Site clean up that the land will not be cleaned in full in order to protect the wildlife, and the public. The local EPA Region 9 has left the Lehigh clean up to local agencies. The Cement Plant is still standing and even thou it has been shut down and the kiln gas line was shut oﬀ it is still a grave danger to the public if there was even a ﬁre in the valley it would be like a bomb going oﬀ property would be destroyed and people would be killed. I have brought this up before with the City of Cupertino and Santa Clara County and nothing has been done. The Cement Plant has never been de- assembled and we the public were told it would be. The Rock plant another pollution area is still in operation and it is polluting the air, water and soil again no one is shutting it down. There are silos on the site that are used to house product and sold these silos need to be closed and there should be no continued activity of any kind related to both the Rock plant and the silos. Santa Clara county and the agencies should be monitoring all of this and still they remain open. Soil/Overburden Stockpile Management Topsoil Availability and Storage – Location – Limited on-site cont. Reading Cathy Helgerson – comment – The surplus soil imported will be stored where will it be stored and how will the polluted runoﬀ be curtailed? Who is going to test the soil to make sure it is clean soil? There needs to be attention given to what the quarry pit will be ﬁlled with and covered on top with. Who testes the soil and to what levels of pollution are allowed? I do not believe for a minute that the soil coming in to Lehigh will be completely free from pollution. Let’s remember the seepage water coming in to the quarry pit. This water seeps in from the aquifer below and is tied into the valley’s water shed that is used for our drinking water. Santa Clara County staﬀ have seepage reports to this eﬀect. There should be a seal at the bottom of the quarry pit maybe large rocks or some other form of containment so as to keep this water from seeping into the quarry pit. If the pit is not properly dealt with than the water will seep in and eventually come to the surface causing problems. The quarry pit should not be used for a pond or lake of any kind. Who will ﬁnd out what is really happening in order to protect the public? Slop Stability – Stockpiled cover and soils will have 2H:1V or ﬂatter slopes. Cathy Helgerson – comments – Who decides if this is enough? Depending on how porous the soil is in the past there have been crevices cracks in the soil itself and problems with the rainwater not being absorbed by the soil at the WMSA and the EMSA. Will the soil used to cover both sites be suﬃcient to allow the water to sink into the soil without it running oﬀ into the Permanente Creek. We have the pollution issue of selenium and other pollutants to be concerned about. Will these areas be at some time suitable for Residential and Commercial us? Just allowing this land to leave to open space is probably not a permanent solution. The land should be use to provide a resource needed there is a housing shortage and no matter how anyone looks at the Lehigh land it should be available for the needs of the people. The open space use pollution requirements are diﬀerent from the strict levels used to regulate land use for Residential and Commercial use. I would like to see that the strict levels are used at this time due to what the land can be used for in the future. My thoughts here is that with a Superfund Site Clean up we can hope to be rest assured that the land will be made ready for use. The standards will and should be abided by hopefully and in the long range plan the Lehigh land all of it will be ﬁt for use and restored. This is a very serious matter and before any decisions are made completely investigated. Skip down to Best Management Practices – Read on Cathy Helgerson – comments – The Lehigh Quarry backﬁll must be tested to the proper use. We must mention here the selenium pollution and other contaminants are still a problem and we must not forget to promote the full cleanup nothing less. Lehigh’s Waste Water Treatment Plant should be in full use. The water from all sites on the Lehigh property should be treated to its highest standards. As thing stand now the waste water is allowed to low without full testing to be conducted into the Permanente Creek. Topsoil Application – Amendments, Depth - Read more Cathy Helgerson – comments – Testing of the ground after removal of construction aggregates need to be tested. The soil that is imported needs to be tested fully. Just putting 6 inches of top on the WMSA and the EMSA is not enough. Assurances need to be in place that would make sure that the runoﬀ from rainwater and groundwater will be regulated. This water eventually as I previous stated is going into the Permanente Creek, what requirements are out there regulating this topsoil that is supposed to be a clean soil just what does that involve exactly the public needs to know? Contractors just dumping their excess soil and paying Lehigh to take in the soil and ﬁll the pit is not enough. Will this also include any broken- up rock from the builders site? Will there be any monitoring of this material and how is it done. Truck loads of material of any kind will be delivered to the Lehigh pit for ﬁll over a period of 40 years and so the public streets will be subjected to dust and dirt ﬂowing oﬀ of truck that are delivering this soil to the Lehigh site. If there is concrete added to the dumping of material/soil this concrete contains Mercury and other pollutants this needs to be carefully monitored and I wonder if it will be. I will mention here that the road up to the Lehigh property from the Stevens Creek Blvd. is in terrible shape because of the truck traﬃc and it will be getting worse once the Reclamation process begins. Cupertino is aware of this and the do nothing to repair the road. The road from the Lehigh property down to Foothill Blvd. and the Steven Creek Blvd. will suﬀer further damage not to mention the 280 Freeway from the truck traﬃc. In my opinion the WMSA, EMSA and any other areas at Lehigh should be subject to a full cleanup. The soil waste material and rock should to be taken away and trucked away not covered up with 6 inches of soil. The ﬁlling up of the Lehigh quarry and the Reclamation plan should reﬂect whatever is going to be used to ﬁll and top oﬀ with soil. How can the public be sure of what is going to happen? Most of use will be dead and gone before the Reclamation process is over. There is also the Stevens Creek Quarry with its pollution processing concrete rock for proﬁt. Their trucks will also be using the roads as they have been for decades damages are many. The Stevens Creek Reservoir is continually contaminated from the Steven Creek Quarry and I have mentioned this over and over again and nothing is done to shut them down. Santa Clara County and the agencies are responsible for this pollution by not closing them down and by not regulating with higher standards. Cathy Helgerson - ending comments I have repeated myself on many occasions regarding each category to reiterate in order so that all concerned will see how serious the problems are. I have commented on the beginning of the Summary. I am sorry to say that as things are I am very disappointed in the system and hope that others like myself will comment and voice their objections in order to help covey to the agencies, county and cities that what Lehigh proposes with its New Lehigh Reclamation Plan is not enough. There needs to be a complete Lehigh cleanup on all the property. Bring in the EPA Superfund Site Division if necessary and I think it is to do the cleanup. How many more years will the public be subjected to this ongoing pollution to our Air, Water and Soil? Does anyone remember Love Canal in Niagara Falls New York due to the dumping of toxic chemicals the area was cleaned up in a Superfund operation many people became sick and died. It took many years of a massive cleanup and still to this day no one is really sure that all of the land was cleaned up. Many people here in the Silicon Valley have had cancer myself and family included I have always wondered if the pollution here in the Valley from the Lehigh Cement Plant and Quarry and the Stevens Creek Quarry have not been responsible for the illnesses and there are many. This is up to the powers that be to ﬁnd out and I am sad to say that unless something major is accomplished via the EIR that we the people here in the valley will continue to be subjected to ongoing pollution. How can we leave things up to the County who believe that it will take another 2 years to process the EIR and review the comments it has taken way to long already. Well for the meantime the pollution continues and is a serious threat to the public. Let’s not leave out the Stevens Creek Quarry this also needs to be addressed and the quarry should be shut down permanently and there should be no recycling of concrete. The City of Cupertino also has a compost area that needs to be shut down on the Stevens Creek land the overburden from the quarry is mixed with this compost and it is ﬁlled with pollution. I witnessed this process of sifting them together years ago and the City of Cupertino denied this and even threatened me. I tried to stop this from happening and no one at the would do anything to stop this process. To this day things are the same people are given this compost and they take it home and use it in their gardens. This should not be happening. The Stevens Creek Quarry also needs a massive clean up and Restoration now not later. They continue to pollute the creek surrounding the quarry and the Steven Creek Reservoir, Recharge Pond, Stevens Creek and the Permanente Creek. There are high levels of Mercury in the Stevens Creek Reservoir this water ﬂows down eventually to our valley’s aquifer one has to wonder if this water is safe for drinking. I think that the public has been and continues to be subjected to the threat of pollution to our air, water and soil and that the EPA Region 9, EPA Superfund Site Division and the other agencies need to shut down the polluters for good. We the People are asking those all concerned to do your job and it really is up to you our representatives to make sure that we are protected once and for all. Cathy Helgerson To: Robert Salisbury – Project Manager – Santa Clara County and SCC Board Members. From: Cathy Helgerson – Citizen of Cupertino – 20697 Dunbar Drive, Cupertino, Ca. 95014 Regarding: Santa Clara County and Lehigh Permanente Quarry Reclamation Plan Amendment Environmental Impact Report. Contracted with Environmental Science Associates - Contact Name: Janna Scott Project Agreement Environmental Consultants – This project Agreement is executed pursuant to ESA between the County of Santa Clara – Dated: July 1, 2020 and is subject to all of the Terms and Conditions and deﬁnitions of the PSA so stated. Contract Number C25P251, File Number: PLN23-100 Terms of the Agreement: Starting Date: 5/20/2025 Ending Date: 12/31/2026 Not to Exceed Amount -$683,505.00 dollars – Maximum Fee Not to Exceed Amount A. Introduction – Scope of Services - Read on – It is stated that this Project will not include consistent with the State Supreme Court’s guidance the SEIR will provide only the information necessary to make the 2012 EIR adequate for the project as revised, and will not reconsider in detail those aspects of the analysis in the 2012 EIR that would not be aﬀected by the changes currently proposed. Cathy Helgerson Comments – I requested this ESA Consulting Contract Agreement from Robert Salisbury and I was willing to do a FOIA Request but that it seems was not necessary and he supplied me with 35 pages of the agreement. It seems that the public is not required to receive or comment on this document. The public is not aware of the very expensive cost of this Consultant Agreement. It seems that the invoices are to be sent to Santa Clara County and that Robert Salisbury who will be handling the payments. It is not clear if Lehigh will be paying for this EIR but Robert stated he received a check from them. It maybe the ﬁrst installment I am not sure. It states in Section A which provides an overview of our understanding (that is SCC’s understanding) of the property, the project site, the Project based on the December 2024 Lehigh Reclamation Plan Amendment and application materials the County accepted as complete by letter dated January 27, 2025. Note: This has not been approved but is being used to provide the consultant with a plan to use it for the EIR. I will mention that this Consultant Agreement should be made public and the public should comment on it. The Notice of Preparation has been released but it does not provide information to the extent that the Consultant Agreement has and so the public cannot really get a complete picture of what is taking place. The Summary on the Reclamation Plan also does not provide the needed information that should be supplied to the public for review. I have already submitted my comments on the Reclamation Plan Summary. How can the public actually comment on any plan at this time without the information which is necessary to make a full decision as to the content of the EIR, Lehigh Reclamation Plans old or with a complete revised amended plan. It is hard to say exactly how a new complete Lehigh Reclamation Plan for the year 2025 will be handled and ﬁnished without reading the complete Consultant Agreement. 1. The Property – Lehigh owns approximately 3,510 acres in Santa Clara County – Read on – 2. The Reclamation Plan Boundary within the Property, the Project would remove the “Exploration Area” identiﬁed in the 2012 Reclamation Plan and thereby would reduce the existing approximately 1,238 .6 acres reclamation plan boundary to approximately 921 acres area that needed for processing stock piled aggregates and reclamation and closure work. The 2024 RPA separates the area within the reclamation plan boundary into six mapping units, which include: The Quarry, two overburden disposal areas (the West Material Storage Area, (WMSA) and the East Material Storage Area (EMSA), Shop and Oﬃce Area, Rock Plant and Haul Road, and the Permanente Creek Restoration area. Cathy Helgerson Comments – The 921 acres set by Lehigh and the plan change are not enough all of the Lehigh property needs to be cleaned up. There is also one area that faces the Stevens Creek Blvd. on the foothills that has been used for dumping of overburden waste which has not part of the Amended Reclamation Plan. I have asked about this area for years and Santa Clara County staﬀ does not respond to my inquiry the question here is why are they avoiding a clean up here? This pollution from this area and other areas at Lehigh are polluting the air, water and soil in the Silicon Valley and the SF Bay area. The whole area needs to be cleaned up this overburden and the other areas on the Lehigh property all of it need to be cleaned up. Taking away this polluted soil is ensuring that the public is safe and the land can be used for open space, residential and commercial use. The Permanente Creek Restoration area is still waiting for restoration. All of the pollution from the Lehigh property is going down the Permanente Creek that streams down to the SF Bay. It is no wonder that the Permanente Creek can not be restored at this time and that it is determined by the Lehigh plan. 3. Project Boundary – The ESA Team – Environmental Science Associates Company – The understands that the 2024 Reclamation Plan Amendment primarily proposes to remove aggregate stockpiles, grade steep areas for stability, backﬁll the Lehigh Quarry with primarily imported materials, cover the WMSA, EMSA and Quarry with suitable closure material generated on-site and imported material; buttress Quarry walls with imported ﬁll, and revegetation. Read on. Cathy Helgerson Comments – This 2012 EIR should contain all important details and information pertaining to the environmental impact that would be a serious health issue. The public needs to be informed and they need to also be protected from any further pollution at the Lehigh property site. We cannot leave out the Lehigh Permanente Cement Plant it is closed for now but I am very concerned that it could be opened up again. The public is against that and any further mining of a new quarry south of the existing quarry. My question is why did the Project Boundary leave out the discover issues and why are they omitting the environmental impacts. How was it actually left out of the 2012 Reclamation and the EIR’s? The proposed reduction of the Reclamation Plan Boundary area by 317.6 acres by removing the “Exploration Area” identiﬁed in the 2012 Reclamation Plan area from 1,238.6 acres to 912 acres is a crime. The “Exploration Area” is a critical part of the information that should be included in the EIR and the New Reclamation Plan as a whole and an Amendment to the existing Reclamation Plan is not enough. Note: The “Exploration Area’ is the area that was tested for its limestone content and this level of limestone is subject to the possibility that Lehigh will apply for the mining of a new Lehigh Quarry pit south of the existing Quarry in the future or possibly sooner. I am sure that this information is being left out for this reason and it should not be. Nothing should be overlooked or omitted. Importation of approximately 42 million cubic yards of clean ﬁll to back ﬁll the quarry pit with so called clean ﬁll. Cathy Helgerson Comments – Known of the WMSA, EMSA and the overburden from any location on the Lehigh property should not be used to ﬁll the quarry pit due to their high content of all kinds of pollution. There has been a high content of selenium and there is still a problem with containment of this pollution to this day. All of the pollution from the Lehigh lands needs to be evaluated and removed not covered up. Proposing that 31.2 million cubic yards of oﬀ- site clean ﬁll be used for backﬁlling of the quarry pit. Question – Just what is clean ﬁll and who will make sure that it is acceptable? Lehigh is gaining revenue from this delivery of this so- called clean ﬁll from outside which they are charging the building contractors for this dumping. This so- called clean ﬁll is what is taken from housing project, commercial projects and all kinds of building sites. Lehigh needs this money to fund the Reclamation Plan which would take 40 years. The cleanup should not and cannot be allowed to be extended out to 40 years. The public suﬀers from this and continues to be polluted on all levels. Calling in the EPA Superfund Site Environmental Division would be the best way to make sure that the clean -up is done correctly and speedily. Who is going to monitor this deliver of ﬁll over 40 years? I would think that if it were declared an EPA Superfund Site that there would be their own investigators visiting the Lehigh property to make sure that they are in compliance with the clean-up and more. This is the only way to protect the public from further pollution. Reclamation of pre-SMARA slopes along Permanente Creek that was previously excluded from the 2012 Reclamation Plan. Read on – Cathy Helgerson Comments – This must lead everyone to believe and understand the damage that Lehigh Cement Plant and Quarry has done to the Permanente Creek. They have destroyed the creek. The Lehigh Rock plant is still operating and it continued to pollute the air, water and soil this should be of great concern. I suppose that the question here is how can a restoration of the Permanente Creek be conducted while there is still pollution and destruction to the Permanente Creek? Any changes proposed to the 2012 Reclamation Plan to enhance the long-term geotechnical stability of slopes within the reclamation plan boundary relative to the prior plan, and details of a proposed imported soils management plan. Read on Cathy Helgerson Comments – It is very vague as to those changes may be and there needs to be more speciﬁcs mentioned in the Lehigh Permanente Amended Reclamation Plan. I the Lehigh Quarry to be used for a dumping ground of waste and questionable material? I think that the public and agencies will not be in favor of this. There is also no mention of the buttress with regards to with regards to the stability of the slopes. Imported soil management needs to be more explicit it should state clearly with no room for confusion or doubt of the quality and free from pollution soil. Geotechnical, biological, water quality and ﬁll availability and speciﬁcation data and related technical information that has been developed since the 2012 approval? Read on. Cathy Helgerson Comments- What are the speciﬁcs related to the water quality especially and how does it all of the above become clear with the Lehigh Waste Water Treatment plant and the treatment of the groundwater at Lehigh? The water ﬂows from the Steven Creek and the Stevens Creek Quarry and joins with the Permanente Creek water from the Lehigh land. The aquifer under the ground is subject to this pollution also. A great deal of the polluted water is not cleaned at the Lehigh Waste Water Treatment Plant and there is no mention in the Consultant Agreement about any of this. This water in the aquifer comes down from the creeks and ends up in the Stevens Creek Reservoir and is polluted by the not only Lehigh but the Steven Creek Quarry there is no mention of this. This is a very serious matter. The EPA Superfund Site Division needs to be called in. There was an investigation by them per my request and they did an extensive reports 2 binders full of valuable information. The Santa Clara County received copies of these binders and I am hoping they still have them. I have a copy and I can tell you we need the EPA to take over and conduct a Super Fund Site Cleanup not only of all of the Lehigh property but also the Steven Creek Quarry. The Lehigh Rock plant storage silos and the Stevens Creek Quarry need to be shut down and the land cleaned up to endure that the public is protected from the ongoing pollution. Note: there is no mention of the cumulative eﬀect regarding the selenium and other pollution. Skip down 4. Proposed Project Management and Technical Team – B. Work Plan - skip Task 1: Projected Initiation and Project Management – Read on Cathy Helgerson Comments – Will the public be notiﬁed and included in such meetings? Task 2: Technical Studie – Task 2.1: Independent Review of Project Studies and Materials Cathy Helgerson Comments – there is no mention of the Green Legged Frog or any other animals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, or ﬁsh. The deer red squirrels, gray squirrels, rabbits, coyotes, snakes, raccoons, opossums and mice make the Lehigh property and the Steven Creek Quarry property and land their home. There are a great variety of birds, including wild turkeys, gulls, hawks, turkey vultures, quail, cardinals, sparrow, and songbirds. Why has this information been kept from the public? Pollution aﬀects them to and the disruption of the Lehigh property all of it which includes the Cement Plant, Lehigh Quarry and any trucking or hauling of product in or out of Lehigh disrupts the natural environment of these creatures. Response to Incomplete Letter -read on The Lehigh Response to December 2023 Conty Incompleteness Letter – Dated: May 2024 particularly including attachments 1, 4, 6, 8 and 9 are not included here. The Consultant Agreement also does not contain the changes made to the Lehigh Permanente Amended Reclamation Plan. There should be notice of what remains in the plan and what has been taken out. How is the public supposed to review the plan without a clear picture. It also should be noted here that the public has not been told about the Consultant Agreement. Question here is are they or should they comment on this agreement? I believe that we the public should be able to request a copy and comment on it especially with the information regarding the high cost of this Consultant Agreement and who is paying for it and how. Task 2.2: Preparation of Technical Studies – Read on Cathy Helgerson Comments – It is extremely important and necessary that a new environmental analysis be conducted. The reasons behind the reduction of the Lehigh property are not rational. The Lehigh property proposed for cleanup are to low leaving out vital areas that need to be reclaimed and subject to a complete clean up. The project studied in a prior review is just not enough. Transportation and therefore (For internal consistency in the SEIR, also for air quality/greenhouse gas emissions and noise must be considered and reviewed. Read on Cathy Helgerson Comments – The EPA Superfund site investigation that was conducted in the past could be a great help with all of the Lehigh Permanente Reclamation Plan, EIR, and Consultant Agreement. I have 3 binders full of information I received from them because I was the one who asked for the investigation of Lehigh and the Steven Creek Quarry. 2.21 Air Quality and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Technical Report – Air Quality – Read on Cathy Helgerson Comments – It should be mentioned that the Lehigh’s Cement Plant is at this time not in operation due to the lack of limestone in the existing quarry. There is a possibility in the future that Lehigh may submit an application to mine a new quarry below the old existing quarry and that the public will be subjected to high levels of air pollution, water contamination and that the soil from these mines will need to be removed from the Lehigh property. The public has a great fear of the possibility that the pollution would be even worse than what was emitted from the last Cement Plant and the processing of Cement. As it is now Lehigh has an operating Rock Plant and also uses two silos to store their product in these two silos. They distribute this ground up processed rock to companies in the Silicon Valley and surrounding areas for a proﬁt. The pollution from this Rock Plant continues to pollute the public and it should be closed down for good. There are already to many truck trips from the Rock Plant, and the Stevens Creek Quarry the ongoing truck trips back and forth from Lehigh Quarry, Cement Plant and the Stevens Creek Quarry have worn out the roads. The air pollution that has been emitted from the Lehigh’s Cement plant and now the Rock Plant continue to pollute the condos nearby, the homes in the surrounding area. For years the Lehigh Quarry has been emitting all kinds of pollution from the Cement Plant and the public has had to be subjected to all kinds of disease this needs to end. The Bay Area Air Quality Management Division and the Air District has done nothing to stop the pollution to the Air from the Lehigh Cement Plant and Quarry. They also are doing nothing to stop the pollution from the Lehigh Rock Plant. The Stevens Creek Quarry continues to pollute the Stevens Creek Reservoir and the creeks ﬂowing to the Reservoir. This water from the Lehigh land and the Stevens Creek Quarry are polluting the Permanente Creek. I do believe that the EIR and this Consultant Agreement should be evaluated by the EPA Superfund Site Division especially after they did an investigation of the Lehigh Cement Plant, the Quarry and the Stevens Creek Quarry. Health Risk Assessment – Read on Cathy Helgerson Comments – The project will be deﬁnitely subject to extremely heightened public scrutiny and it should be. The public can no longer be subjected to what has been taking place all these years. Humans and animals alike have become ill from the pollution to the air, water and soil and this must end. Leaving the determination of the air pollution levels up to the Bay Area Air Quality Control Division is and is a mistake it is time to have the EPA Superfund Site Division Enforcement Division to come in. It is extremely necessary to have the cleanup conducted as quickly as possible and I do not believe the subjecting the public to 40 years of the Lehigh Reclamation Plan cleanup will be acceptable and the land needs to be cleaned up with all means available. Health Impacts Analysis – Read on Cathy Helgerson Comments – The Lehigh Permanente Reclamation Amendment and the Consultant Contract Agreement should show and reﬂect the seriousness of the continued potential of the air quality pollution impacts from criteria air pollutants. These air pollutants have been causing and have caused very serious health consequences with the public suﬀering and to the point of death. It is stated here in the agreement that a quantitative health impact assessment for the project would be expected to show negligible health incidences above existing back round conditions and would not be considered meaningful and would include high uncertainty. This statement is completely wrong and damaging to the public that has had to endure the ongoing lack of real enforcement from the agencies that are supposed to be protecting us. At any moment Lehigh could apply for another permit to mine the vested and unvested Lehigh land south of the old existing quarry this is completely unacceptable to the public. Cumulative Impacts – It is stated that the EIR will not contain the cumulative air quality impacts from the project – Lehigh’s emissions will be evaluated based the BAAQMD CEQA Guidelines emission thresholds. This scope does not prepose or include qualiﬁed emissions from cumulative or related projects, which is not required in the BAAQMD CEQA Guidelines mythology for CO hotspots impacts. ESA will conduct a screening assessment at the top three impacted intersections as determined by the Project Traﬃc study based on cumulative plus Project traﬃc volumes. Cathy Helgerson Comments – This screening that is proposed cannot serve as a true evaluation and this is especially true when we must look at the Stevens Creek Quarry traﬃc, the Lehigh Rock Plant traﬃc and the possibility that in the future Lehigh could request and submit an application to mine the south end land below the existing quarry. The public has been horriﬁed by this serious possibility. This should never happen it would be a total disaster. This study will not be accurate and will fall short in really conducting an accurate pollution determination and any kind of Traﬃc Study. TAC Emissions – Read on Cathy Helgerson Comments – It states that ESA will consult with the County and appropriate cumulative threshold for TAC emissions and will evaluate cumulative TAC impacts based on the outcome of these consultations for the purpose of this scope, ESA assumes that BAAQMD data will be relied upon for TAC impacts from other cumulative projects as appropriate. The question here is should this evaluation really determine the appropriate cumulative threshold in order to truly determine if in fact the public can live or not live in safety from this pollution? The past has shown the public that we are living in a very polluted environment and with the increase in the populations, the building of new homes and apartment buildings there would most likely be a very high increase in Traﬃc and pollution. The Lehigh property all of it must be subjected to a full total clean up and I have mentioned that the EPA Superfund Division could do the job with the assurance to the public that it would be done completely reducing the time stated for the Reclamation taking 40 years. This time period is not acceptable. Greenhouse Gas Emissions – Read on Cathy Helgerson Comments – It states Reclamation and Post-Reclamation -related GHG emissions will be qualiﬁed using the same approach as the air quality analysis CALEE Model, as well as EMFAC emissions factors for mobile sources. No matter using models will in reality not show the true impact of the pollution delivered to the public from mobile and stationary sources. Question how is the public supposed to live? The Health and Safety issues are serious and the public is poisoned and harmed from the pollution that is constantly emitted. It seems by setting the acceptable levels high enough we will continue to suﬀer. No one in the past with the agencies has set proper emissions levels in order to keep the public safe. They have totally disregarded the cumulative eﬀect completely. Cancer and other serious disease such as autism in children is on the rise and we are told the public can endure this pollution after all we need to keep the economy moving. The companies need to keep their doors open even thou they are polluting the public to death. We all need to sit down and evaluate the situations here in the Silicon Valley that are aﬀected by the Lehigh and Stevens Creek quarries. No more mining of any kind and environmental laws should to be made clear especially around large populations. 2.2.2 Noise Impact Assessment Technical Report – Noise impact considerations for this Project primarily include the addition of multi-year importation of clean ﬁll to backﬁll the quarry pit-and to cover other areas of the quarry. Read on Cathy Helgerson Comments – When considering and determining the Noise Impact there needs to be a mention also of the nuisance factor these should also include emissions of air born pollution in the form of dust, gases, noise and vibration included. When operating machinery and during blasting in quarries, and damage to the countryside. The Quarry Mining with the Lehigh Cement Plant, Rock Plant, use of silos to house the product have plagued the public with also noise levels that exceed the limits and nothing has been done about it. The pollution from all and noise have been evident. The public can no longer be subjected to this harmful pollution and noise factors. This has been put upon us long enough. Why should saving the polluters and allowing them to prolong Reclamation Plan for multiple decades be allowed this should not be taking place. We can no longer tolerated these Environmental crimes to continue and it is time to bring in the EPA Superfund Site Environmental Investigations Division to start reviewing the issues and taking over the Lehigh Permanente Reclamation plan, the Permanente Creek Restoration and the Stevens Creek Quarry Reclamation Plan. The Lehigh railroad next to the Cement Plant is still there it used to transport product down to San Jose for decades and now it is not being used question is why not? The railroad could be used to aid the Reclamation Plan transporting soil for the quarry instead of using our roads. This would possibly lower the Noise factor too, and even help with the pollution that should not be carried by the trucks to our streets. There are many times when the dirt and rocks fall oﬀ of the trucks on to the roads. This is especially true with the Stevens Creek Road that leads out to Foothill Blvd. and on to the 280 Highway and more truck traﬃc on the roads means more pollution. The train could have an engine on both ends so that it would not have to turn around but would go back and forth. The noise factor and pollution factor must be also dealt with but maybe it is time we all weighed the diﬀerence and decided what is best. How can anyone believe that 40 years of this Noise and pollution is not a serious matter? The public wants to see this pollution dealt with possibly in 5 years in order to make sure that we the people can live here in the Silicon Valley and the SF Bay. The EPA can rescue us from this pollution and it should. I am not sure that Lehigh can pay for this clean up and it seems no one is checking on that why not? We can not allow this Lehigh Permanente Reclamation Plan Amendment to reﬂect a period of 40 years to ﬁnish the job. Santa Clara County, Cities and Agencies must join together and make sure that the public is not polluted for 40 years. They also should make sure that there is never to be another quarry pit mined nor a cement plant opened. They should make sure that the Lehigh Rock Plant is shut down. My question here is what if Lehigh decides to apply for a permit to mine the South land and create another quarry what will Santa Clara County, the Cities and Agencies do about this? The public will not and cannot allow or accept this possibility. Lehigh dug bore holes in the South Lehigh property years ago to see if there was limestone and to rate the quality of the limestone this has been mentioned in this agreement. 2.2.3 Transportation Study – ESA’s teaming partner, Hexagon Transportation Consultants Inc., will need to prepare a Transportation study to be included in the EIR that will inform the County with information of the potential impacts for the project, and as they primarily predict the thousands of proposed truckloads that would occur over 40 years to import clean ﬁll to backﬁll the quarry pit and cover other areas of the quarry. Read on Cathy Helgerson Comments – It is the public’s worst nightmare and we have to consider what this Reclamation Plan and the problems with Pollution, Noise and Truck Traﬃc will do also to our homes and property values. This is especially true for the families that have homes in the area. The apartments in the area near the Lehigh cement plant have experienced high levels of dust and pollution this dust is all over their homes and has polluted for multiple decades. The owners of the properties rent out the apartments and they cannot get anyone to buy the property. The existing Rock Plant that is still open and is causing noise, dust and pollution should be closed down. The Traﬃc on our roads and highways will be extremely congested with trucks and cars and as the population grows and grows adding more congestion of traﬃc on the roads it will take people more time to get to work and take our children to school. The high levels of pollution will be horrible. I will mention again what about using the Lehigh train system near the cement plant? My question here is how can anyone really predict with true accuracy, how the project with the trucks on the road, combined with the Stevens Creek Quarry truck traﬃc added really establish the true impact of the Lehigh project. The City of Cupertino and other cities are growing the traﬃc will be at dangerous levels unless the State, County, Cities and Communities ﬁnd other means of travel. Which leads me to say with all the Consultants eﬀorts with their reports and co-consultants there is no real time evaluation that can be established. 3.1 Notice of Preparation and site visit – Read on Cathy Helgerson Comments – I would like the EPA Superfund Site Enforcement Division to be included in the notiﬁcation which I am sure they have not been included in the Notice documents especially with regards to the Consultant Agreement. I would assume that the reports will contain pictures of the sites so that the public and the agencies can see the full picture of the project ’s sites. Note: Let me remind everyone that the EPA Superfund Site Enforcement Division did an investigation years ago as per my request. They conducted this investigation of all of the Lehigh property and the Stevens Creek Quarry which should have a Superfund Site Clean up as well. I do hope that Santa Clara still has these records or that they will try and get them from the EPA Superfund Site Enforcement Division. I still have the 3 large binders full of information, reports, maps and pictures of the Lehigh and Steven Creek lands that they sent me. The Lehigh lands all of it need to be completely cleaned up in order to allow the land to be used for residential, commercial or open space. The question here is why is it that not all of the Lehigh land property not being completely subject to a full clean up? If this is too expensive for Lehigh and the mother company of Heidelberg in Germany to pay for this than the public, agencies and the EPA need to look into this. 3.2 Scoping Meeting – ESA anticipates that the County will hold one virtual public scoping meeting via Zoom or a similar plate form where staﬀ presents information – Read on Cathy Helgerson Comments – It is really so wrong conducting just a virtual public scoping meeting via Zoom without a meeting or meetings that are presented to the public at Santa Clara Counties oﬃce building. The public need to attend these meetings and not conducting them in person is a violation of the Ralph M. Brown Act. California’s open meeting law requires local legislative bodies to hold meetings that are open and accessible to the public, including a physical location where the public can attend. There are exceptions during a Proclaimed State of Emergency and Individual Member Remote Participation AB 2449 as amended by AB 2302. It does not just allow meetings to be held only remotely. The Santa Clara County should hold an in person scoping meeting or meetings with the public. 3.3 Scoping Report – Read on Cathy Helgerson Comments – The EIR Draft it is stated will take 1-1/2 to 3 years to complete with I am told includes the publics comments submitted will be read and responded to. The public should also have been provided a copy of the Lehigh Reclamation Plan Amendment and this is not has not happened. The Notice of Preparation has been provided but it does not relay enough information. The public is not aware of so many things and the Consultant Agreement should also be provided to the public with its extended information. The question is how can the public understand what is taking place if they do not have all of the information and how can they comment on the EIR? Santa Clara County is supposed to be transparent and open but it seems they are holding back vital information that must be added to the comments listing. How will the EIR information be added to the existing Lehigh Reclamation Plan Amendment? The true picture of what is happening with Lehigh and all of its property will never come out this is wrong and it is time We the People demanded much more from our representatives. Task 4: Draft SEIR – 4.1 Administrative Draft SEIR ESA will begin preparing elements of the ADSEIR following a Kick-oﬀ meeting. Read on Cathy Helgerson Comments – The public needs to be included in this or these meetings in person and they should be allowed to comment at these meetings. This is very important and SCC cannot violate the Brown Act. My question here is how will the EIR or ADSEIR aﬀect the Reclamation Plan Amendment 2024, and the original Reclamation Plan what will be added and what will be taken oﬀ with the Amendment and EIR information? Santa Clare County has not red lined information that tells us what changes have been made or added. I have to ask what does this all mean and how does it justify the decrease in acreage all of the Lehigh property has to be cleaned up. Project Description – To inform project description, ESA will rely on fact and details presented by Lehigh in the June 2023 application materials and its May 2024 response to the County in the incompleteness letter. – Read on Cathy Helgerson Comments – It should be noted that the public was never allowed to view the County Incompleteness letter and or letters to Lehigh. This back and forth reply between Lehigh and SCC was held in conﬁdence and the public still does not know what valuable information transpired. I believe this information is very important and that the public should have been involved and notiﬁed about these letters. What was not included in the Lehigh Reclamation Plan Amendment and what did the County tell them should have been included? The process took man months of continued alternatives and even with that the County just looked at it with regards to the legal content and so it still needs to be approved. Identiﬁcation of Potential Alternatives ESA will identify a reasonable range of potentially feasible alternatives in light of Lehigh’s Project Objections and the potential signiﬁcant impacts of the Project. Read on Cathy Helgerson Comments – In describing the alternatives to the project which could reduce potential signiﬁcant impacts by trying to decide a comparative level of analysis may be a real hazard and lack of real transparency. There are serious impacts which are very important. These impacts must be reviewed as to how Lehigh’s Reclamation Plan Amendments will be a beneﬁt to the public and if they are legal. Lehigh’s Project Objections should be noted and their alternatives must show how the Plan has been changed and if the County accepted them. The Technical study should reﬂect the seriousness of the pollution study that must be carried on in great detail. The lack of consideration for the health issues that impact the wellbeing of the people who live in the Silicon Valley and the SF Bay area need to be considered. There should be the highest of standards taken not just SMARA but any standards that reﬂect the EPA’s local and Federal EPA Superfund Site cleanup requirements. The EPA Regional oﬀ and the EPA Federal oﬀ should be contacted, and a EPA Superfund Site cleanup should be conducted. Development of Cumulative Scenario – ESA will aggregate a list of potential cumulative projects based on desktop research and agency outreach for each of the resource area to be evaluated in detail with the EIR. Read on Cathy Helgerson Comments – The cumulative eﬀects should be a top priority. The terrible pollution from the Lehigh Cement Plant and the Quarry should show and reﬂect the history and the current pollution levels that the public has had to endure. The Air, Water and Soil has been polluted so severally that a full Reclamation Plan needs to reﬂect a total clean up of all of the Lehigh property and this is not happening. What would the cost be for such a cleanup no one really knows but it would be very expensive and I do not believe Lehigh can aﬀord it. This may have to be conducted by the EPA Superfund Site Enforcement Division and this matter taken to the top level for review. Santa Clara County should request that the EPA be involved and contacted. There is also a Lehigh Rock Plant and Lehigh silos that need to be shut down immediately and this should be part of the Consultant Agreement and Santa Clara County should demand that it be shut down. There are tests that should be conducted with regards to the Air, Water and Soil its past and present conditions of pollution and contamination in order to protect the public. EIR – Environmental Impact Report has to be clear on what needs to be cleaned up by Reclamation. I am very concerned that all of the Lehigh property will not be subject to a full cleanup and that is so seriously wrong. The Analytical Baseline – Part of this paragraph states – For a limited number of resource areas to be identiﬁed in coordination with the County and Lehigh a current baseline maybe used. It goes on to talk about a baseline condition for each source. Read on Cathy Helgerson Comments – Speciﬁcally speaking what source areas? It states that ESA will proceed with substantive analysis of any resource analysis until the agreement is reached regarding the appropriate baseline. The Project-speciﬁc changes must include changes that reﬂect the serious nature of the baseline levels of pollution. These levels must include the cumulativeness of the mix of pollution levels reached and what are the pollutants that have been past and present. The selenium problem has been a serious one but there are many more pollutants and they need to be listed and their levels posted for the public to view. The Lehigh cleanup of all of the property must be conducted. Lehigh’s decrease of acres to be reclaimed is not enough and this must be extended to include all of the Lehigh property. There should also never be another quarry mined speciﬁcally the south land below the existing quarry. The Cement plant should never be opened up or retroﬁtted to process more limestone for cement. Signiﬁcance Criteria – ESA will rely on the questions set forth in the 2012 EIR as signiﬁcance criteria so that there is a bases for the County to reach a determination as to whether the existing 2012 EIR is suﬃcient to address the impacts of the 2024 EIR or weather further analysis needs to be provided. Read on Cathy Helgerson Comments – This constant promoting of further analysis is a form of stalling and the continued amendments that are staged to give Lehigh more time to prolong the major cleanup of the Lehigh properties. How many more will Lehigh and SCC allow as amendments is anyone’s guess. No matter what further impacts to traﬃc, transportation or potential impacts on tribe cultural resources the fact is that Lehigh must present a full new Reclamation Plan. But it seems that the continue amending of the Plan and the EIR seem to be promoting and postponing of the ﬁnal outcome over and over again. The Lehigh original Reclamation will continue to have Reclamation Plan Amendments they are not numbered and they should be. Who is to know over the years how many changes will need to be made 40 years is a long time and it seems that the Reclamation will be allowed to take that long. This cannot and should not be acceptable to the public, Santa Clara County, the Cities and the agencies. With the help of the EPA Superfund Site Clean up if allowed it should only take, we hope 5 years. This expediting the clean up will save lives. The value of our homes will not loose the value and the Lehigh land can be used for housing, commercial use and open space. Environmental Impacts and Mitigation Measures – For each resource area that could be aﬀected by the Project, ESA will draft an SEIR section that describes any residual impacts remaining following their implementation. Read on Cathy Helgerson Comments – I am completely dismayed by ESA’s Comment that states any applicant proposed design features or measures to avoid or reduce anticipated signiﬁcant impacts will be considered as aspect of the Project and not as mitigation measures. It is important to note here that no mater what form of reduction in the aspects of the overall Lehigh project Reclamation Plan Amendment or the past EIR there must not be a reduction. Lehigh would use those reductions to beneﬁt themselves and will not care about the public and how it will aﬀect them. The Permits that Lehigh applies for must be monitored especially if and when Lehigh Company decides to promote and submit the mining of a new Lehigh quarry south of the existing quarry. They would also need a permit to open up the Cement Plant and will be asking to process cement again. This cannot be allowed and the public is against it. 4.2, 4.3 4.4 Read on Subtask 4.4 Additional Assumptions – Read on Cathy Helgerson Comments – In viewing the Consultant Agreement and providing the deliverables it is very evident that the EIR is a complicated document the County must make the public aware of all the additions and changes. This all relates to the Lehigh Reclamation Plan and the Amended Plan. The cost also of the EIR is expensive exceedingly costly how is Lehigh paying for this plan, or are they? The Maximum Fee Not to Exceed amount is $683,505.00 dollars. The Consultant Agreement breaks down the installments and the dollars spent but the public has not received a copy of this agreement as yet my question is why not? Santa Clara County must make sure the public is allowed to receive a copy and to comment on it. The Heidelburg Cement Company the mother company are they paying for this EIR and the previous EIR? They sold oﬀ other properties but left this on in Cupertino alone the question should be why did thy not sell it oﬀ as well. My answer to this is that they intend to mine a new quarry in the future as I have stated and that they also plan to probably refurbish the cement plant for processing limestone and selling it in the valley and surrounding areas. This cannot and should not be allowed and Santa Clara County must make sure that his never happens. Task 5: Final SEIR – The ﬁnal SEIR will consist of a Response to comments – Read on Cathy Helgerson Comments – The information gathered by ESA’s Consultant Agreement should include any changes to the prior EIR and also the Lehigh Reclamation Plan in 2012 these changes should be redlined so as to allow the public and the agencies to see what was added or changed and why. It is no wonder that this work will take 1-1/2 to 3 years to ﬁnish and it includes the comments from the public and responses to those comments. Will there be more amendments in the future? It is anyone’s guess and I believe that there will be which of course will hold up the beginning of the Plan. This may also hold up the Permanente Creek Restoration Plan. Task 5: 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, & 5.4 omit tasks – Final SEIR – The ﬁnal SEIR will consist of a Response to comments document – Read on Cathy Helgerson Comments – It is stated that this scope of work assumes that the Draft Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (MMRP) would not be prepared for inclusion as an appendix to the Final SEIR, but rather would be prepared for inclusion in the Staﬀ Report to County decision makers (Subtask 6.1). Question – Why is this information kept from the public? It also states that no separate comments summary report is proposed as part of the scope of work. Question why not? It seems that this information is left out in order to beneﬁt the Lehigh Company and not any kind of beneﬁt to the public this is very wrong. There needs to be complete transparency and why would Santa Clara County allow this? 6.1 Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program- ESA will prepare an MMRP that identiﬁes each proposed mitigation measure that could if adopted avoid or reduce the severity of the potential signiﬁcant impacts. Whether the measure originally was identiﬁed in the 2012 EIR the proposed SEIR. In the previous Task it is stated that the Draft Mitigation Monitoring Reporting Program MMRP would not be prepared for inclusion as an appendix to the Final SEIR, but rather would be prepared for inclusion to the Staﬀ Report to the County decision makers. Cathy Helgerson Comments – ESA should not avoid or reduce information that could be signiﬁcant impacts. The public’s lives subjected to all kinds of pollution and it comes from all of the Lehigh property and systems which have caused the terrible pollution that has and is continuing to this day. The rise of cancer and other diseases are a result of this pollution. The public is still suﬀering from this pollution. There has been a constant delay in processing the Lehigh Reclamation Plan over many years and still the public waits. The Rock Plant is still in operation and needs to be closed down. The rain water falling on the ground which runs oﬀ of the Lehigh property into the Permanente Creek, Stevens Creek has an eﬀect on the aquifer below the Silicon Valley. The Stevens Creek Quarry adds to all of the pollution and is also polluting the Stevens Creek Reservoir. This pollution aﬀects the Air, Water and Soil. Question is how can the public keep waiting for the Reclamation Plan to begin? It seems that there is no end to the Amendments to the Reclamation Plan. The time frame they are quoting is 40 years to complete the Reclamation but it excludes the clean up of all of the Lehigh property. The threats are real will Lehigh apply for a new pit below the existing quarry? Will the cement plant be retroﬁtted to allow for more cement making the public wants known of this and has stated many times to stop Lehigh and their pollution. Many of us will not witness the Reclamation Plan in aﬀect there is an aging population. Who will see that the plan is carried out? I would like to see this cleanup under an EPA Superfund Site cleanup with a ﬁrm agreement with Lehigh that they will not continue to ask for a new quarry and a retroﬁtted cement plant. The public wants justice and so Santa Clara must provide that justice. The rest of the items on this Consultant Agreement consist of the Cost breakdown and I would rather leave that up to others to comment on. I do hope my comments will be heard and I will be sending them out to Santa Clara County. Santa Cara County needs to provide this Consulting Agreement to the public for review and to be commented on. These matter are of an urgent nature and there is no time to waste. Please read my comments and take them to heart! To: Robert Salisbury – Department of Planning and Development County of Santa Clara Cc: Board of Directors – Sylvia Arenas, Betty Duong, Otto Lee, Susan Ellenberg and Margaret Abe-Koga From: Cathy Helgerson – 408-253-0490 Regarding: 2023 Reclamation Plan Amendment for Lehigh Permanente Quarry The Summary and my comments on the summary have been submitted earlier. Table 2 Paragraph 1 No Agriculture Zoning Designation uses are on site-are classiﬁed as Prime Farmland 2.4 Site Features and Utilities – The site is supported with all necessary infrastructure for mining and reclamation – Primary crusher, Secondary crusher, Conveyors, Upper Water Treatment Plant, Shop and Oﬃces, and lights illuminate certain access roads, conveyors and processing facilities – Read on Cathy Helgerson - Comments - The features of table 2 do not mention the Lehigh Rock Plant and work performed there it just states Lehigh has mining which we are to assume is located where? The Rock Plant should be called out and its processes mentioned in detail. The days and hours of operation should be also be stated. There should also be information of the location just exactly where is this mine waste or overburden taken from? How long will this Rock Plant be in operation and just how is this processed rock sold? There are two silos that I believe it is stored in and sold to the contractors in the Silicon Valley and surrounding areas. Is this rock processed from the overburden or the waste material that is on the hill? Some of this overburden mine waste can be seen from the Stevens Creek Blvd and it has destroyed the foothill view. I have mentioned this to Santa Clara County staﬀ members and at one time I was told that the County approved of this dumping. There is no mention of how this mine waste overburden or whatever you want to call it will be disposed of and there should be and this information should be added to the Lehigh Reclamation Plan Amendment. 2.5 Existing Land Use Entitlements – Permanente is a vested operation, which is recognized under the SMARA as a surface mining operation with existing mining rights that does not require a use permit for mining to occur. It is stated that vested rights do not exist over parcels 4,10,12,13, 18 and 19. These parcels do require a use permit this should be stated. Read on Cathy Helgerson - Comments- The areas that are not vested should be mentioned and Santa Clara County Board of Directors would have to approve any new mining that would ever take place if Lehigh would ever submit an application to mine a new south pit. The public is against any further mining or cement making. There is a great deal of information that has been omitted in the plan. I do not believe that Santa Clara County should have ever allowed Lehigh to have a vested rights to the land and that this has caused a lot of problems. The Rock plant should be closed down it is causing pollution to the air, water and soil not only to the Lehigh property but to the whole Silicon Valley and surrounding cities. There is this gray dust all over my home and property and I do believe it is from the Rock Plant pollution. This is serious and the Bay Area Air Quality Control Division will do nothing to stop this pollution. My family and I have suﬀered from this pollution it must stop. The cement plant needs to be de assembled, taken apart and the land included in the Reclamation Plan clean up. This was supposed to be done years ago and was not. The public needs to comment on the Lehigh Reclamation Plan Amendment but it seems that Santa Clara County has not notiﬁed the public that they can comment now. The EIR – Environmental Impact Report has yet to come out and it will take 1-1/2 years to be available to the public. This is to long a time and should be pushed through as quickly as possible. There is a consultant agreement that should be available to the public for review and comment and that has not happened. The agreement has a lot of very important information and that needs to be relayed to the public ASAP. 2.6 Water Quality Protection – Current waste containment practices for the WMSA and EMSA consisting of stormwater controls. Paragraph 1 – Read on Cathy Helgerson - Comments – There has been a great deal of pollution coming from the WMSA and EMSA and I do not believe that the Best Available Management practices can be used to contain the pollution that is in the mining waste at these locations. There needs to be a complete removal of the mine waste. Just to cover it up with soil of some kind will not solve the pollution problems. The pollution is in the Air, Water and Soil. I also think that putting any of this waste overburden soil and rock from the WMSA and EMSA into the quarry pit is also not a good idea. I think that taking this mine waste from the polluted sites and transporting it by truck or train to a location that handles this mine waste material should take place. Lehigh has their own railroad and they could have it transported to a proper place. The WMSA has a drainage problem and there have been large crevices and the rainwater stormwater has not been able to be absorbed. The WMSA and EMSA have had problems with selenium and other pollutants that have been found in the water this water drains into the Permanente Creek and eventually ends up in the aquifer and streams down to the Stevens Creek. They ﬂow out to the SF Bay waters and are a serious pollution problem. It is important to note that all of the Lehigh property should be cleaned up under the plan. The EPA Superfund Site cleanup is necessary and would be the best way to handle the complete cleanup of all of the Lehigh property. 2.7 Permit and Planning Boundaries – Figure 4 shows the permit boundary for mining (vested parcels) and the reclamation plan boundary under this 2023 amendment. The SMARA reclamation boundary requirement was enacted to ensure that all surfaces for planned mining are included under SMARA, except for surface disturbances that occurred prior to January 1, 1976, the eﬀective date of SMARA. Surface disturbances must remain within the reclamation boundary unless a reclamation plan amendment is obtained. Cathy Helgerson -Comments – It is really diﬃcult to understand why all surfaces are not reclaimed just what does it mean surfaces for planned mining? Does this mean Lehigh Permanente can add more areas to mine? It seems adding this information to the plan would allow Lehigh adapt another amendment. They could propose to Santa Clara County that they want to mine the land that is not vested. This has been a problem with the citizens the public who do not want any more mining and Lehigh is aware of that. But as time goes on and if the State, County and City Governments feel that there is a need for the mining and processing making cement than the Lehigh Permanente Corporation would proceed to apply for a permit to mine the unvested land. The public wants no more of this and hopefully this matter will be brought up before the public for review now and settle the issues bringing about no possibility in the future to mine a south quarry. It also states that 353 acres south of the Permanente Creek are removed from the reclamation plan this is so wrong. It is really a hit and miss game played by Lehigh and I have to wonder I ask the Santa Clara County should Lehigh be allowed to make this call? I will say again that all of the Lehigh property should be cleaned and now I also ask that the land the 353 acres south of the Permanente Creek be also cleaned. I believe that the EPA Superfund Division should in include all of this as an EPA Superfund cleanup. I am against the revised reclamation boundary that is reﬂected in Figure 3. This polluted land will continue to pollute the Permanente Creek if it is not subject to a full clean up. The public is aware of the pollution and they must be heard. Santa Clara County should not ignore the people who live in the Silicon Valley and along the Permanente Creek. 2.8 Designated Mineral Resources – One objective of SMARA is to create a mineral lands inventory by designating certain areas of California as important for the production and conversation of existing and future supplies of mineral resources. Pursuant to SMARA Section 2790, Surface Mining and Geology Board has designated certain mineral resource areas to be of regional signiﬁcance. The purpose of this designation is to provide local agencies such as the county, with information on location, need, and importance of mineral resources and to ensure that this information is considered in local use decisions. Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – This is extremely important to all parties concerned that no matter how the Lehigh mineral resources are classiﬁed it should not have anything to do with the future of mining the Lehigh south land beneath the existing quarry pit. It would seem that with the mineral lands inventory list that the health and safety of the public is overlooked. I have to ask why is that? The ongoing pollution exposure to the people from the Lehigh cement plant and quarry and with the Lehigh Rock Plant in this present day of operation should make it very clear to the State Mining and Geology Board, and Santa Clara County that the mineral lands inventory should not include any Lehigh land now and in the future. The Reclamation Plan Amendment by Lehigh allows them to justify such mining in the future. Stating the Mineral Land Classiﬁcation of the South San Francisco By Production – Consumption Region, published by the California Department of Conservation, Division of Mines and Geology (DMG) in 1996, classiﬁes aggregate limestone resources areas of the Permanente site Lehigh property as a Mineral Resource Zone 2. (MRZ-2a). For mineral to be considered signiﬁcant and therefore eligible for MRZ-2 classiﬁcation must meet criteria established by the State Mining and Geology Board for material quality, marketability, and economic value. Cathy Helgerson – Comments – Lehigh has entered this information in the Reclamation Plan Amendment to justify the possibility of the mining of a new Lehigh quarry pit south of the old north existing pit. My question is why is this information added if not for the possibility of Lehigh and its future plan to mine a south quarry? This justiﬁcation is wrong Santa Clara County has allowed them to add this to the plan. There is nothing about any constraints of any kind or considerations pertaining to the health and safety of the public who live in the Silicon Valley, cities and the SF Bay area. The public has suﬀered long enough and continues to suﬀer. There are no constraints and there should be. The Lehigh property closeness to the homes and businesses causing great harm to the public and many have suﬀered from this pollution and still are suﬀering. The pollution has been and still is allowed to pollute out in to the Air, Water and Soil needs serious considerations. There have been no constraints for over 100 years and counting. The public needs to be protected from this pollution closing down the existing quarry and cement plant was just a start but leaving this Lehigh Reclamation Plan cleanup to extend out for 45 years is a crime. Is the future Mineral Land Classiﬁcation setting the stage for more Lehigh mining and cement making. There is still the Lehigh Rock Plant in operation polluting the Silicon Valley and SF Bay area and it seems the health and safety of the people who live in these communities does not matter why is that? Human lives the health and safety of the public should matter to the point that no more mining of limestone and cement making cannot and should not happen or continue once and for all. 2.9 Initiation and Termination Dates – Permanente was developed over more than 100 years and the reclamation of nearly 670 acres will require 40 years. Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – The determination of only 670 acres for Reclamation is not enough all of the Lehigh Permanente lands should be cleaned up and be subjected to a full EPA Superfund site cleanup. It should not take 40 years to complete reclamation and cleanup. With a expedited cleanup which will be used to protect the public from further pollution is necessary. The list of excuse posted here are just a way for Lehigh to stall as they have been all along with their amendment after amendment. I feel it is important to note that I asked the EPA Superfund Site Division to review Lehigh’s land for the possibility of making it an EPA Superfund Site location. I also asked that they look at the Stevens Creek Quarry also for a Superfund Site cleanup they did two separate reports on both of them. I have the 3 binders each about 3 inches thick they are very extended reports but to my disappointment they did not want to make them Superfund Sites. This information is probably still available at Santa Clara County’s oﬃce and I still have the binders. I do think that this information would help the SCC consultant to create the next EIR and could also help speed things along. I have just recently contacted the Federal EPA branch asking them to consider a Superfund Cleanup on the Lehigh property but have not received any word as yet. So now is the time to make sure that the Lehigh property is completely reclaimed. Making the property fully suitable for future housing, housing projects, commercial use and open space is needed and should be considered. The land must never be used for mining and should be returned to its full usable use in order to comply with State housing requirements. My concern is also that Lehigh may not have the means to pay for a full Reclamation Plan and is using the Rock Plant, and future quarry dumping to pay for the Reclamation Plan. Santa Clara County needs to push for things to move quickly each and every day the public is subjected to this ongoing pollution to the Air, Water and Soil. Our lives and our children’s lives depend on the depth in which the reclamation is conducted full reclamation must be conducted on all of the Lehigh land and it should not take the proposed time of 40 years. The EPA Superfund Site possibility must me sought out and considered by all and this should begin ASAP. The EIR by the consultant hired by SCC and Lehigh will take some time I am told between 1-1/2 to 2 years to complete and this period is to long. I do believe that Lehigh has been allowed to stall and the constant amendments to the Reclamation Plan that are not even numbered are doing just that. It is time to end this and no more amendments should be allowed. It would be nice to see them numbered and that has not happened. This is also costing a great deal of money that Lehigh has to pay for the consultant and this money could have been used for the Reclamation Plan. The issue of vested rights continues and part of the Lehigh land has vested rights and part of it does not. I do not think that the Lehigh land should have ever been given vested rights at all and Santa Clara County could change that but have not. Lehigh should never be allowed to apply for a permit of the unvested land. The public needs to be notiﬁed that they can comment on the Lehigh Permanente Reclamation Plan Amendment and they have not been notiﬁed. The permit application for the unvested land if approved could allow Lehigh to mine another quarry south of the existing quarry and this is something the public will not stand for and has objected continually. The EPA Superfund Division should be allowed to take over the Reclamation Plan in order to make sure that the Lehigh land is completely reclaimed and cleaned up. They could bring in dirt from other parts other states and make sure that the soil is clean and evaluated suitable for proper use. Removing the EMSA, WMSA and other overburdened stockpiles mine waste of any kind by truck or Lehigh railroad train could make sure that the Lehigh land is completely cleaned. Brinking back cleaned soil by their means could make sure that the Lehigh land is suitable for other use. There should be some kind of limit as to the ﬁnal end of the Reclamation Plan it is stated that 2060 or 2065 would be the date this is unacceptable. If all of the Lehigh land and the Permanente Creek are not cleaned up than the land will still be polluted the Air, Water and Soil will continue to be a problem. 2.10 Reclamation Phasing – Table 3 provides the anticipated timing for completion of various components of site reclamation – read on continued it states the actual time frames will be aﬀected by the annual quantities of imported cover and ﬁll materials essential to close the WMSA, EMSA and Quarry and buttress materials to cover and stabilize quarry high walls. The material movement plan assumes the average import of oﬀ-site material to be 500,000 Cubic yards every year until reclamation cover and ﬁll needs are met. It states that the quarry backﬁll will be sourced from excess on-site and imported oﬀ-site material during the establishment of the ﬁnal reclaimed slopes. Cathy Helgerson – Comments- The 500,000 cubic yards of ﬁll ever year until reclamation cover and ﬁll needs are met. Imported cover and ﬁll materials. Who will be monitoring the soil quality requirements of clean soil? The truck loads this soil could be brought in from building site that could have contaminated soil pollutants who will monitor and how will the monitoring be set up? Lehigh will charge these companies building contractors a fee for dumping this soil into the Lehigh quarry pit. They also be allowing these companies to dump soil over the WMSA and the EMSA site and the buttress locations to cover and stabilize the Quarry high walls. Lehigh it seems will make a great deal of money from this will this money be used to fund the Reclamation Plan? My question is does Lehigh have enough money to fund the full Reclamation Plan for 40 years I think not. There is a railroad track next to the cement plant location that could be used to transfer this soil of whatever kind this would help relieve the traﬃc problems on the streets from the trucks being used to transport soil. I am not in favor of covering up the WMSA, EMSA and other areas with soil. My feelings about this is that the areas are polluted and all of the soil needs to be replaced moved from the Lehigh property and transported to sites that handle polluted contaminated soil. Phase 1 table 3 Reclamation Phasing Reclamation components – Permanente Creek Reclamation Area Permitting process completed, creek excavations moved to Quarry, Grading Completed and Revegetation Planted. Cathy Helgerson – Comments – What permits are necessary and who authorizes them? The Permanente Creed excavations moved to the Quarry – Just what excavations and how is the Reclamation holding up the Restoration of the Permanente Creek? The Public has not been made aware of this. What companies are doing the grading and re vegetation, what are the requirements? West Material Storage Area – Regrade for Stability, Excess cut material sold or moved to Quarry Complete drainage controls, Cover placed from Yeager Yard and Imported materials. Cathy Helgerson – Comments – The West Material Storage Area, and the East Material Storage Area soil is full of selenium mine waste material that should be removed from the Lehigh property and brought to a site that disposes of mine waste material that could harm the public. Lehigh should pay for this disposal. Question can Lehigh pay for the compete cleanup of the Lehigh property I think not? Why have they lowered the acres subject to Reclamation anyone looking at this would have to ask can they pay for the Reclamation that would take 40 years? I think not and that is why I am requesting that the Federal EPA Superfund Site Department come in and do the Reclamation cleanup of all of the Lehigh property. The public needs to be safe from this contamination to the Air, Water and Soil on all of the Lehigh property. The land after removing the contaminated mine waste material should be leveled grated with some very clean top soil. It states that excess cut material sold or moved to Quarry. What means what materials sold are they talking about? The Rock Plant material was supposed to be dumped into the quarry pit at one time until Lehigh decided it need the revenue from the material and so they are processing it for sale. The Yaeger Yard is also mine waste material and should be also moved to a special place oﬀ of the Lehigh property that handles mine waste material and Lehigh should pay for it. East Material Storage Area – Final surface preparation revegetation, and monitoring. Placement old ﬁnal ﬁll and regrading of surfaces to geotechnical speciﬁcations. Revegetation and monitoring reclamation 0-10 years. Cathy Helgerson – Comments – The East Material Storage Area has a history of pollution an Aluminum Plant was used at this site in the past and there never was any cleanup of the soil. Lehigh covered up this pollution with the mine waste material. I tried to stop this dumping and ask the City of Cupertino and the EPA to look into this and they refused. This was and still is a coverup of this polluted area and the soil should be completely removed and transferred of site to a place that handles contaminated soil of this kind. The clean soil should be placed over the site and it should be suitable for other uses such as Housing, Commercial use or open space. Lehigh should pay for this. It is very important that the soil has no contamination of any kind. I would like to see the EPA Superfund Site Division handling this clean up and the whole Reclamation plan. Shop and Oﬃce Area – Surge pile and lower slopes regraded, grading for stability completed. Cut to Quarry – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comment – Just what surge piles and lower slopes regraded? Shop and Oﬃce Areas need to be cleaned the soil below them needs to be tested for any kind of pollution from the cement plant and quarry. The Lehigh property is polluted from the mine dust and cement dust. This has been going on for multiple decades. The buildings need to be demolished and removed. The cement plant needs to be demolished disassembled and completely removed. The cement plant was supposed to be demolished and the parts sold or junked this has never happened. The gas lines for the heating of the cement kiln have never been removed they have just been capped oﬀ. This is a very dangerous situation and if there ever was a ﬁre it would be like a bomb going oﬀ. The Lehigh property has had ﬁres in the past. I suspect that the reason that the cement plant is still there is that Lehigh plans to open up the cement plant in the future. I really think that is Lehigh’s future intent the public is totally against it. They also held on to the property instead of selling it oﬀ. Quarry – Initiate Main Slide Stabilization and Complete Upper Regrade Area – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – It is diﬃcult to even know how long this will take and with the soil there being washed away by rain slide stabilization has been a real problem. Erosion removes soil and rock. This lack of stabilization has caused ongoing problem and this is due to Lehigh’s Quarry mining. They took little considerations with their mining over the years and now the Reclamation process is a disaster no one seemed to care until now and the 40 years to Reclaim the land is way too long. Phase 1 table 3 – Installation of Drainage Controls – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – Who monitors this? Where have the drainage systems been all these years? If there is a lack of them how is this being handled? They need to be installed right away. Phase 1 table 3 – Placement of on-site and imported ﬁll – Read on Cathy Helgerson - Comments - The West Material Storage Area and the East Material Storage Areas mine waste contaminated overburden should not be used to ﬁll the Lehigh Quarry pit. The imported soil will need to be evaluated for its good quality who will be in charge of that for 40 years imagine? The use of the Lehigh railroad system that is next to the cement plant could be used to bring in the soil to be used. This would be better than using trucks to truck in the soil and it would help to elevate some of the traﬃc on the roads that can also be used to transport. Lehigh will charge these contractors a fee for dumping the soil from building sites making a great deal of money over the years. I suppose this will help pay for the Reclamation Plan. I am not so sure Lehigh can aﬀord the Reclamation Plan and I do believe that the EPA Superfund Division should make this land a Superfund Site. Phase 1 Table 3 – Continued Backﬁll with on-site and imported ﬁll – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – This soil will have to be evaluated to determine the purity so that the land can be used for other means such as Housing, Commercial Use or Open Space. The Lehigh quarry must be reclaimed up to the EPA Superfund Site standards and even better. The public must be protected from and further pollution that is why there needs to be an EPA Superfund Site location declared for all of the Lehigh property. The Reclamation Plan does not call for a complete cleanup of the Lehigh property and all of the Lehigh land is polluted with quarry and cement plant dust. The Rock Plant is still operating and continues to pollute the Air, Water and Soil on the Lehigh property this plant needs to be shut down immediately. The Reclamation cannot and should not be left up to the local agencies or local companies that have not been approved by the EPA Department. This pollution that is still coming from Lehigh and could continue for another 40 years is very serious and the EPA Superfund Site Division is able to actually do what is necessary to make sure that the Lehigh land is safe from the ongoing pollution. Human and animal lives depend on the full cleanup of the Lehigh land. I would also like to see the Steven Creek Quarry shut down and the land also declared an EPA Superfund Site cleanup. Phase 2 table 3 – Rock Plant Area – 10-15 years – Reclamation – Grading and Revegetation Competed – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – The length of 10-15 years period that it will take for Reclamation of the Rock Plant is to long. The Rock Plant needs to be closed down now and the processing of rock should end. The rock was originally supposed to be moved to the Quarry pit for Reclamation but Santa Clara County has allowed them to process this rock for sale. Lehigh is making money from this sale of rock. Lehigh also has on site two silos that they use to store the reﬁned crushed rock to sell to contractors in the valley they need to be removed. Continuing this process is polluting the Air, Water and Soil this needs to end. I suppose that Lehigh is using this money to fund the Reclamation Plan and to pay their employes that work at the Lehigh company site. This is not acceptable I do not believe that Lehigh can pay for the Reclamation Plan. The EPA Superfund Site Division may need to help pay for all or part of the Reclamation plan right away. Bringing the EPA in who can make sure that all of the Lehigh property is completely cleaned up has to happen. Saving the public from any further pollution contamination is necessary this should happen quickly and not in 10-15 years. Phase 3 table 3 – Quarry back ﬁll to approximately 990 ft. above sea level it will take 10-30 years – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comment – I am assuming that this level is ground level. It must be level enough to allow for other purposes as I mentioned for housing, housing projects, commercial use and open space. How does this work for land used for open space can people hike on it? The time period of 10-30 years for Reclamation completion is to long a time and I believe that Lehigh would even stretch it out to over 40 years for the Reclamation Plan to end. I must warn people to understand that Lehigh can at any moment apply for another permit to mine south of the existing quarry and they can retroﬁt their cement plant. The cement plant itself would have to comply with new standards for cement plants but Lehigh would still proﬁt from this and that is what I believe they will try and do. They kept from selling the property and one has to wonder why they decided to keep it and the cement plant. The public must know that Santa Clara County needs to protect them from the possibility of a new quarry and a new cement plant this should never take place. Now is the time to voice our objections to this horrible possibility. Phase 3 table 3 – Final File 10-30 years elevation reached (+/990 mean sea level) installation of Drainage controls Revegetation and Monitoring. Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – Who will monitor this 10-30 years Reclamation Plan? The EPA Superfund Division has the means for such of a kind of overseeing that needs to take place. I am sure also that Lehigh will stretch this period out for possibly 40 or 50 years I ask you who is to stop them? If this portion of the work takes so many years to accomplish in this case it is the drainage system how is it hurting the groundwater and the aquifer below our drinking water. Phase 4 Quarry – Quarry 30-40 years- Buttress using imported ﬁll is constructed – Installation of drainage controls revegetation and monitoring. Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – Just exactly how will this buttress be built? How has erosion aﬀected the ridgeline where the buttress will be installed? The public have never been told how things are going or if the processes for controlling the erosion are working. The area cannot and should not wait 30-40 years to repair how can it? The EPA Superfund Division could take care of this urgently needed installation of the buttress and repair of the ridgeline right away. Phase 3 table 3 Quarry 30-40 years – Installation of drainage Controls- Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comment – How will the drainage processes be started? A period of 30-40 years is too long. Seems that there should be a form of drainage now the rainwater coming down over the ridgeline is causing erosion. Where is this water going is it drained into a pond or into the quarry? After that is it delivered over to the Lehigh Waste Water Treatment Plant this is not mentioned in the Reclamation Plan why not? All of the Lehigh water needs to be treated. Phase 3 Bottom – Notes (1) Phasing, tasks, and timing subject to actual Production depending on market conditions and other engineering and economic factors. Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – This s a problem and it needs to be addressed in a very serious manor in order to protect the public and our aquifer water from mine waste contamination. The Permanente Creek has been and is being used to empty Lehigh’s polluted mine water and rain water ﬂowing into the quarry and on the Lehigh land for decades. I have been told that not all of the water is treated at the Waste Water Treatment Plant. The quarry, cement plant, rock plant and any other location at Lehigh have a cumulative eﬀect the pollution selenium, mercury and lead contribute to the horrible pollution. They cumulate and they not being considered or mentioned in this Reclamation Plan for their contamination of the Air, Water and Soil. Just leaving things up to the San Fracisco Bay Regional Quality Control Board is not enough. Stating that they may dictate reclamation actions and timing how can they really do that? In the past they have allowed the pollution coming from Lehigh to continue and even now they are supposed to monitor the Rock Plant pollution and I am really sorry to say that is just not happening. People here need to know that Lehigh pays the BAAQMD fees for every type of equipment that they have at the Lehigh site past and present. These fees have been paid to them for decades not just years and one has to wonder about things. Could this be why they are so laxed in their pollution controls? These issues must be made public. In my opinion the pollution levels set on pollutants are high and it has been done to make sure that the companies can still operate. If Lehigh is in noncompliance they are just hit with a ﬁne and they go right on polluting. This is not only true of the air but of the water as well. No one shuts down the polluters. The cumulative eﬀect is never considered or mentioned. The Lehigh Cement Plant needed retroﬁtting for years but they knew if they did retroﬁt the cement plant that they would be under the new pollution limits and so they decided not to. If Lehigh decides to apply for a new mining permit on their unvested land that will need a permit. They also have vested land that they do not need a permit to mine. The public will not stand for another quarry nor will they stand for another cement plant in the Silicon Valley polluting the valley and the SF Bay Area. (2) Notes – The project related to the Permanente Creek Restoration Plan must be completed in 5- 10 years. Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – This Permanente Creek Restoration Plan has been hanging in the balance for too many years and still counting and to say it will take another 5-10 years is another way of Lehigh stalling because I believe they do not have the funding to pay for the complete Reclamation Plan. Lehigh’s Reclamation Plan is holding up the Permanente Creek Restoration Project. The rain water and the polluted water from all areas on the Lehigh land is polluting the Permanente Creek and has been for decades. Lehigh has destroyed the creek and in doing so has also polluted the Stevens Creek water ﬂowing to the Permanente Creek both of these waters also are aﬀecting the aquifer below the valley. The Stevens Creek Quarry has been polluting the Stevens Creek Reservoir with Mercury for decades and people are told not to eat the ﬁsh. This site is processing and is recycling concrete. Contractors in the valley and the surrounding cities bring their concrete to be crushed and processed this product is sold to the contractors and stored at the site. The pollution from the Stevens Creek Quarry is polluting the Stevens Creek Reservoir with Mercury and it seems that the State Regional Water Quality Control Division who monitors it will do nothing to stop the pollution. They are also using the Cupertino compost area to ﬁlter their overburden from their mine sifting it through the compost and providing it to the public. This I witnessed myself but it seems no one would believe me and nothing was done about it. The EPA Superfund Site Division needs to come in and proclaim the Lehigh Property, the Permanente Creek and Stevens Creek Quarry as site cleanups. The Health and Safety issues will have to be taken up by them in order to assure that things are handled properly. The question is here what related entitlements and approves are granted to Lehigh this needs to be listed and it should be part of the Lehigh Reclamation Plan Amended Plan. 3. Current Conditions 3.1 Mining – Permanente minerals production – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – There is aggregate overburden material on the foothills and this material can be seen from the Stevens Creek Blvd. I am sure that it is probably mine waste material and that the dust from this pile of waste is blowing all over the valley. I have asked about the stockpile over the man years and Santa Clara County cannot give me a straight answer about this. This stockpile is not mentioned in the Reclamation Plan. I want to know what it is and where is it going? How long will it take to move it and when will it be moved? It seems between the Rock Plant material and the stockpiled aggregate it states we have 7 million tons of stock piled aggregate. How did this become so horrible 7 million tons of polluted aggregate from the Lehigh Quarry? Call it what you want overburden, aggregate mine waste, soil and rocks it is still polluted. The people in the Silicon Valley and the SF Bay area have been polluted over 100 years and still counting. The Lehigh Reclamation Plan will not clean up all of the Lehigh property. The public is at the mercy of Santa Clara County and the agencies that regulate these polluters. The EPA Superfund Site Division should take over this cleanup in order to make sure it is done right and to make sure the public is protected. The cleanup should not take 40 years to complete this pollution is killing people and should be done as quickly as possible. All means should be made available to get the job done with all funding provided by State and Federal Divisions that work with the EPA. 3.2, 3.3 & 3.4 – Geology and Geotechnical Conditions – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – The San Andreas & Berrocal Fault can be subject to ushering the next major earth quake in California. The public worst nightmare is if Lehigh ever applies for a permit to mine the south of the existing quarry. Lehigh has tested the land with drilling boreholes and it determined that there is good limestone underground to be mined in the future. This never should happen. The public has made it clear they will not tolerate another Lehigh quarry or cement plant to pollute the valley and the bay. There is the vested land that Lehigh has that does not need a permit and then there is the unvested land that they do need a permit in order to mine. I have to ask myself and others why has Lehigh held on to this land while it sold their other properties? I suspect it is to mine another pit in the future and to process cement. The Reclamation Plan seems to lack the realization that an earth quake can happen at any time and projects the next earth quake way out there in impossible years. I suppose lives lost, properties destroyed and billions of dollars lost is not good enough reasons to make sure Lehigh never mines a new quarry or processes any cement. This goes for the Stevens Creek Quarry as well that would cause all kinds of problems with earth quakes. How can Santa Clara County, State of California and the agencies allow Lehigh to ever be able to mine a new quarry? The public and I say no not ever. Fault and Structure Mapping – The current understanding of major fault structures – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – It is stated that the Lehigh Quarry area is less than two miles from the San Andreas Fault and the Berrocal Fault. The Berrocal Fault has been mapped with multiple trace locations and has been mapped and as running through the Lehigh Permanente Property. Lehigh Permanente has numerous shear zones and faults running through it, which include high and low angle faults. Review of historical stereo photographs from early as 1960 indicate a large northwest trending fault, wide fault zone across the Lehigh Permanente property. To be clear that the Lehigh Permanente property, Permanente Creek and the Stevens Creek Quarry would also be subject to a major earthquake catastrophe. It also states that the major fault visible on the historic aerial photos is possibly the western trace of the Berrocal Fault, with many strands of faulting contained within the Lehigh Permanente Quarry Walls. I do believe that the people in the Silicon Valley have been lucky so far but to say that we cannot expect an earth quake for 300 or 400 years is crazy. Mining the south Lehigh property and drilling a new Lehigh Permanente quarry would user in the next major earth quake not only here but up and down California. We the people cannot take such a chance and this must be made very clear to all people and especially clear to Santa Cara County. The EPA Superfund Division can bring in experts from all over the state and US. 3.5 Hydrology and Water Quality – The Predominant Drainage is the Permanente Creek – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – The Permanente Creek plays an important part in caring the groundwater, mine waste water, and all kinds of polluted water from the Lehigh property. The Steven Creek, Steven Creek Reservoir and other creeks ﬂow into the Permanente Creek. The aquifer below the valley is also subjected to any pollution that ﬂows down our creeks. The quarry pit has a seepage water ﬂow coming from the aquifer which could be going back and forth from the quarry contaminating the aquifer water. It is something for the EPA Superfund Site Division to explore with the closing of the quarry and the Reclamation. The Lehigh Permanente Waste Water treatment plant was built to clean the water coming from the Permanente Creek, the Quarry and the Recharge Ponds. There is a lot of information about the selenium problems running oﬀ of the WMSA and the WMSA. How much of the groundwater, wastewater and pond water is being cleaned by the Waste Water Treatment plant is a mystery. The public has never been told. Where is the State Regional Water Quality Board there needs to be reports reﬂecting this information that the public can view. The seepage report should also be listed on the Reclamation Plan listing and reported on. What will happen to this with the quarry how will this problem be handled? I have mentioned this in my comments about the closing of the quarry. 3.6 Biological Setting – It states – The Permanente property states that the majority of the area is drained by the Permanente Creek. Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – I have mentioned a great deal on the 3.5 Hydrology and Water Quality listing. Skip down to the California Red Legged Frog. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) listed the subspecies as threatened in 1996. The capture and relocation read Protection Measures for the Red Legged Frog continued under permit. There is nothing in the Reclamation Plan that state that the Red Legged Frog will ever call the Lehigh property their home again. They have been and are being moved oﬀ site to another location and I do believe they will never be able to return. Why is this not mentioned in the Reclamation Plan? 3.7 Soils – As depicted in Figure 6, “Soils”, the soil survey of Santa Clara Area, California (USDA) indicates – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – There is not enough stated here about the soil. The soil overburden combined with polluted mine waste located at the WMSA needs to be addressed seriously. This soil needs to be removed and transported oﬀ of the property by truck or by railroad. As it stands some of the soil will be placed in the quarry pit and some will be left and covered over by so called good soil. There has been a great problem with the drainage at the WMSA that the soil there cannot absorb the rainwater and that large crevices are created due to this problem. How can we allow this polluted mine waste soil to remain? Dumping some of this into the quarry pit is not a good idea. I believe that the EPA Superfund Division could do a better job and they must be allowed in. 3.8 Skip Revegetation Test Plots 4. Reclamation and Closure- Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – I have mentioned my concerns regarding the WMSA and EMSA this probably goes for the cover material how do we know where it is coming from and who will monitor the quality? There are many times at a construction site that the soil needs to be removed because of the lead content this is a requirement. Contractors can come and dump the dirt from any site and who knows what is in the soil. There should be a mention of where this good soil is coming from. Lehigh needs to pay for this soil but they may charge building contractors to dump this soil into the quarry and onto other areas on the Lehigh property. EPA Superfund Site Division hopefully would make sure that the soil was appropriate. The public will suﬀer if polluted soil of any kind is placed or left on the Lehigh land and it would aﬀect the Air, Water and Soil The Revegetation of the Lehigh damaged land needs to be monitored carefully to make sure that what ever is being used can sustain the harsh dry climate that is becoming hotter and hotter each year do to climate change and other reason. This Lehigh land is also shared by many animals, birds and reptiles such as the Red Legged Frog who has been moved from the Lehigh land probably never to return to its original home. There is also a serious issued pertaining to cloud seeding and the alteration of the weather this combined with the pollution to the air is causing ﬁres and ﬂoods in the US. I am adding this information to the Reclamation plan to inform Santa Clara County and the cities here in the Silicon Valley about this. Majorie Taylor Greene is presenting a bill before Congress that will make it a Felony this bill will prohibit the injection release or dispersion of Chemicals or Substances into the atmosphere for the express purpose of altering the weather, temperature, climate or sunlight intensity. I am highly in favor of this bill these are serious matters. Cloud seeding in the US has been around since the 1930’s and it needs to end. I also believe that this and the pollution from not only Lehigh but other companies and the car emissions have caused the diseases that we see today. I believe cancer, autism, diabetes and other diseases are plaguing the populous and they have been suﬀering. Many people have died and are continuing to each year. The people want cures and they want this pollution to our environment to stop. 4.2 Fill and Cover Material and Sources – 4.2.1 – Volumes and Sources table 5 Cut & Fill Grading Volumes – Read on Cathy Helgerso – Comments – It states the Quarry a total of approximately 42 MCY is needed to ﬁll the quarry to its ﬁnal design surface, including the buttress. Just how do we justify what Lehigh will dump into the Quarry? Who is going to test the soil, rocks or concrete that construction site contractors are dumping at the Quarry to dispose of? Covering up the polluted areas at Lehigh with some kind of soil and leaving the mine waste underneath is unacceptable. The EPA Superfund Site Division must be brought in to take over the Reclamation Plan as a whole in order to make sure that things are done correctly. This Reclamation of some of the Lehigh property is not enough all of the property needs to be cleaned up and I am sure Lehigh cannot aﬀord this expense. I would please everyone to remember that Lehigh dug to deeply in the quarry knowing all along that this was wrong and no one ever issued a ﬁne or sited. No one ever closed the quarry for that why not? Because of this there is a seepage of water coming into the quarry from under the ground this groundwater is coming from the valley aquifer. This seepage report was never made public and I only found out about it from a concerned Santa Clara County staﬀ member years ago. The aquifer water is our drinking water. The seepage going into the quarry can also pull water from the quarry back and forth into the aquifer. Who is testing this aquifer water and the quarry pit water to see what needs to be done to stop this seepage? Question also is how will the quarry be ﬁlled to make sure that there is no more seepage threat? EPA Superfund Site to handle things. Table 6 Quarry Backﬁll Material Speciﬁcations-Lower Quarry, Middle Quarry, Upper Quarry and Highwall Buttresses. Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – I object to using concrete from the cement plant deconstruction. It states that a signiﬁcant amount of data has been developed through investigations that there are releases of selenium and other constituents of concern (e.g. nickel) from residual mined materials and unmined limestone highwalls. These investigations targeted the stockpiled WMSA and EMSA materials and unmined limestone highwalls. All of the soil at the WMSA & EMSA and other areas on the Lehigh property that contribute to the pollution of the land should be removed and trucked or use of a train to transport to a place where this polluted hazardous mine waste can be placed for such purposes. I would like to see the EPA Superfund Site Division handle this because I do believe they are more equipped to handle such pollution issues at highly polluted sites in the US. Turning the Reclamation Plan and the EIR over to them would really make sure that the people here in the Silicon Valley, surrounding cities and the SF Bay area are protected from this Lehigh polluter. 4.2.2 Cover and Re Soiling Needs Much of the mine on-site occurred before SMARA required topsoil to be set aside for Reclamation thus little top soil is on site. Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – Are we supposed to think that Lehigh never realized that they would someday need top soil for Reclamation this is a totally inconsiderate of them. The Lehigh Corporation – Heidelburg Company should have known that they would need top soil in a later date but failed to stockpile soil they should be ﬁned or sited for this and more. It states that a minimum of 4 ft. of suitable cover material determined by the Reginal Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) approximately 4 ft. will overlay reclaimed slopes. The Quarry, WMSA, EMSA and the other areas at Lehigh that may contain selenium-bearing rocks will be covered over. I cannot nor do I want to believe that 4 ft. of overlay will actually be enough. The Lehigh land I would say probably all of the land is full of selenium and other pollution. It states that cover material will vary this could be a real problem. How can this be left up to the (RWQCB) to monitor for 40 years I cannot even imagine what hazards will be created and that the public must suﬀer from the pollution. The prior Lehigh Reclamation Plan was issue back in 2012 and now at 2025 we wait, the new Reclamation Plan Amendment 2023 states that another 40 years will be needed to complete the Reclamation. This is a total now of 53 years why should the 2012 Reclamation Plan have waited till now? We are still waiting and continue to wait. I suspect that Lehigh is stalling and has been stalling all along because it cannot or will not pay for the Reclamation Plan and let’s not leave out the Permanente Creek Restoration project still waiting to be done. My question is what is wrong with Santa Clara County why are they allowing Lehigh to stall all these years and why can’t something be done? The EPA Superfund Site Division should be called in to take over the Reclamation of the Lehigh property and the Permanente Creek Restoration. The Stevens Creek Quarry should also be subjected to a Superfund Site Cleanup and closure ASAP. 4.2.3 Imported Material – An imported soils management plan will be developed – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – It states the Management Plan may also reference conformation of testing in accordance with California Department of Toxic Substances Control Protocols. Implementation of the imported soils management plan will be reported to the RWQCB as part of the ﬁnal closure plan requirement. The question here is how can they be entrusted with this very involved work? The EPA Superfund Site Division is much more qualiﬁed to conduct this testing and even more. I ask that they take over the Lehigh Reclamation Plan ASAP. We must not forget that Lehigh will make a great deal of money by charging the contractors in the valley who can bring in their surplus soil and dumping into the Lehigh quarry. This process of allowing this to continue for 40 or 50 years is to long a time much time has already been wasted. How can the public be asked to wait especially if they know how polluted the Lehigh property is? We should also not forget the Steven Creek Quarry and their pollution they also should be turned over to the EPA Superfund Site Division to make sure that the site is cleaned. 4.3 Stability and Compaction – 4,3,1 Geotechnical Evaluation – The Greenstone slide in the Quarry and other instability of cut and ﬁll slopes – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – It states the slope stability analysis were modeled under static and pseudo – Static Conditions with horizontal ground acceleration for reclamation and closure of the highwalls. Static condition models were following the Cal Trans Geotechnical Manual for slopes. Question how accurate are these measurements? I do not feel that we can leave this up to the modeling processes modeling is not suﬃcient. Santa Clara County should include the earthquake possibility is 5 inches enough as noted? I will repeat over and over again bring in the EPA Superfund Division to make sure that the Reclamation is conducted to include all of the Lehigh property. Leaving out the Cement Plant and other areas at Lehigh that should be part of the Reclamation is wrong. Best Management Practices are sometimes not enough I ask that more be done to ensure that the Lehigh property is cleaned up for future use for housing, housing projects, commercial use and open space. How can anyone predict when the next earthquake will take place the Lehigh Reclamation Plan states it could not happen for 300 years or more this is Lehigh’s way of covering up the reality of the situation. It seems that there are tiny earthquakes that take place frequently and this monitoring is on the web for the public to view if they wish. Lehigh wants to justify another south end quarry in the future the public will not stand for it. Let’s remember who is writing this Reclamation Plan Lehigh has designed it to promote themselves and we the public must remember that. I am concerned about the place that the Santa Clara County is set themselves up to be. The constant Lehigh promoting is hurting the public and we are subjected to ongoing pollution of the Air, Water and Soil. It is stated that all displacements modeled for the Lehigh site post-reclamation are “Minor” and thus unlikely to impact the reclaimed slopes. I do not agree with this modeling process how can they even try to determine this if there is a major earthquake we need to question this. The EPA Superfund Site Division did an investigation years ago on the Lehigh property and the Stevens Creek Quarry as per my request I have three binders 3 inches thick to show anyone that wants to see them. I should hope that Santa Clara County and the EPA Superfund Site Division still have this information. I am sorry to say they decided not to do the Superfund Cleanup and I am not really sure why they decided against it. I would like to see the Consultant hired by SCC and Lehigh to look at this information and I think it would help to speed things along on the Reclamation and the EIR. I do think another investigation is necessary and the EPA could do a very good job of taking over the Reclamation of Lehigh, the Reclamation of the Stevens Creek Quarry and land and the Permanente Restoration Program. The land for all of these locations needs to be fully cleaned up. 4.3.2 Material Placement and Compaction – Backﬁll of the Quarry will occur – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comment – The Lehigh Reclamation Plan does not state what rock material will be placed to close the bottom of the quarry pit which has a water seepage problem. This is Lehigh’s fault they mined way to deep knowing all along this was wrong. As I mentioned before no one ever got ﬁned or sited for this. It states that backﬁll will likely be placed below the water level. I believe that Quarry back ﬁll compaction maybe impossible. The back ﬁll meaning soil would be too porous and so the quarry will still seep in water from the water table below. The quarry needs to be plugged or capped with large boulders and then concrete poured over it. This would ensure that no water below from the aquifer would seep into the quarry pit. Then and only then the soil compacted over the concrete would be intact. The soil should be brought up to ground level. The EPA Superfund Division should be in charge and their Superfund Cleanup eﬀort would require this process to be made. 4.4 Reclamation Components – 4.4.1 Quarry -The Quarry backﬁll surface will have a 2 percent downward gradient – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comment – Just what material is being used for the buttress? Backﬁll stated in plan 1, 2, 3 & 4. How will the buttress highwalls be stabilized to meet current seismic standards? More information is needed to explain the buttresses and the competent bedrock. The buttresses should be implemented ASAP in order to stabilize the quarry walls. The EPA Superfund Division could make sure that this work is done correctly and eﬃciently. 4.4.3 East Material Storage Area – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – The East Material Storage area was once an aluminum plant location. The location was never checked for ground contamination and it should have been. Lehigh decided to dump mine waste there not only to get rid of their mine waste but also to cover up the polluted soil under the aluminum plant location EMSA. I complained to Santa Clara County when I saw what was taking place and they did nothing to stop this dumping and they should have demanded that the soil be tested and they did not. The EMSA soil the mine waste material needs to be tested and removed. Good soil needs to be brought in. This area should be properly cleaned up and I think again as I have stated the EPA Superfund Division could do the job. 4.4.4 Shop and Oﬃce Area – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – All of the Lehigh buildings need to be demolished and the contaminated rubbish left should be taken to a place where waste such as this is disposed of. During the rainy season the rainwater running oﬀ of these building and the soil pollution has a strong bearing on what the groundwater quality will be. This water has never been tested and should be treated at the Lehigh Water Treatment Plant. EPA Superfund Site cleanup is needed. 4.4.5 Rock Plant Area – Read on Cathy Helgersonn – Comments – There will need to be a lot of soil testing before the area will be regraded and covered. What kind of soil will be used for grading? The Rock Plant is still in operation and Lehigh is making a lot of money from this rock processing. This Rock Plant is polluting the Air, Water and Soil at Lehigh and it needs to be shut down. The EPA Superfund Site Division should establish a Superfund Site Cleanup in order to ensure that the site is cleaned up correctly. The rock at the rock plant that is being processed was supposed to be used to ﬁll the quarry and this is not happening. Lehigh has needed to sell this processed rock to make money. Maybe Lehigh does not have the money that is needed to do the Reclamation Plan could this be what has been holding up the Reclamation Plan cleanup all these years? 4.4.6 Permanente Creek Restoration Area – The Permanente Creek Restoration area includes approximately 49 acres of Historic mining adjacent to the WMSA – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – The Permanente Creek it states does not require restoration under SMARA why not? It mentions that the large limestone boulders cannot be distinguished between boulders as a result of mining versus distinguishing colluvial boulders. The leaching of selenium out of the boulders has always been present. I do not believe that moving the boulders would make things worse. Leaving them there is a problem and the Permanente Creek should be part of the Lehigh Reclamation Plan. Maybe they need to be placed in the Lehigh quarry and covered with cement to seal oﬀ the quarry pit and good soil could be put over all of it. This would take care of the water seepage that I mentioned before. Is the water in the Permanente Creek treated at the Lehigh Waste Water Treatment Plant? If the boulders are not removed than the creek is still subject to the selenium poisoning as harsh as that is. They need to be removed and they need to be removed ASAP. The Permanente Creek Restoration is still pending and it will be pending as long as Lehigh drags on the Reclamation of the land. All of the Lehigh land needs to be cleaned up and the public suﬀers every day that this Reclamation cleanup is stalled by Lehigh. Can the public or should the public wait for 40 or 50 years no should be the answer. 4.5 Groundwater Quality Protection – 4.5.1 Quarry Backﬁll Consideration – The quarry will be backﬁlled to be at least 990 ft. – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – It states that using the WMSA as a sole source of backﬁll (as approved in the 2012 Reclamation Plan) is not preferred a long-term solution. It also states that there is a problem with long-term water quality. Due to this understanding then the WMSA mine waste material should be removed and trucked or railroaded out to a location that handles contaminated waste of this kind. The WMSA should have good soil on top and levied out to ground level. This land could then be used for housing, housing complexes, commercial and open space use. The EPA Superfund Division could handle all of this and should declaring the Lehigh land as a major Lehigh Permanente Superfund Site Cleanup. It states that the buttress that is needed must be able to support the quarry walls that would be strengthened with non limestone material just what is that material? It is stated that there should be no selenium concentrations of any kind which includes less than 5 ug/L measured. We must remember that there is selenium and other pollutants on all of the Lehigh property. The levels of pollution have a cumulative eﬀect, and the pollution has become more potent over the years the question is how much longer should we wait? How many Reclamation Plan Amendments and EIR’s will the public have to live through? Bringing in the EPA Superfund Division to take over to make sure that things are moving along as quickly as possible is the only way to guarantee that the public is protected. The assurance of the EPA to protect the Health and Safety of the people depends on the expertise of EPA and their expert skill, knowledge and track record which should speak for itself. The magnitude of the Lehigh Permanente Reclamation Plan should convince all of us that the complete cleanup of all of the Lehigh property is necessary must be handled by the EPA Superfund Division. The Lehigh total Property Acreage is 3,510 acres. Permit acreage on vested properties is encompassing approximately 2,040 acres. The reclamation boundary encompasses 921 acres this limited amount is not enough to completely reclaim and cleanup the Lehigh property. 4.5.2 West Materials Storage Area Considerations – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – The Stormwater from the WMSA it states can no longer be directed to the Quarry, but instead, to the Permanente Creek. This should be directed to the Lehigh Waste Water Treatment Plant. It could be directed to the Cupertino Sanitation lines that start at the Lehigh property but they did not want it to. Levels of selenium pollution is present and no matter how low is a problem. It states similar values observed at the EMSA are present. 4.5.3 East Material Storage Area Considerations – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comment – It is stated that the concentrations of selenium, arsenic, mercury, vanadium in the soil/material exceeded groundwater or aquatic habitat ESL’s and it is clear that the EMSA materials do aﬀect groundwater quality. This has been happening all along. The polluted water from the EMSA needs to be treated and there is no mention of this. Why is the Lehigh Waste Water Treatment Plant not mentioned? Should not all of the water steaming oﬀ of the Lehigh land cement plant, Quarry water, Rock plant Water and any place else on the Lehigh property needs to be treated? There should be no water allowed to ﬂow into the Permanente Creek from the Lehigh property that is not treated before release by the Lehigh Waste Water Treatment Plant. The EPA Superfund Division should take over the Reclamation Plan Amendment to ensure that it is carried out correctly. 4.6 Surface Water Quality – 4.6.1 Surface Water Management – Surface hydrology and grading design can impact water quality through erosion of placed soils at closure. Read on Cathy Helgeson – Comments – It talks about Best Management Practices which I do believe is really not enough. Just where are the drainage channels major areas that will be closed for the WMSA upper section of the Main Slide Area Regrade, and the EMSA? Where will these drainage channels be routed? It seems through one of three points? This is very important Figure 12 shows that these points drain into the Permanente Creek. This water needs to be treated before discharged. EPA Superfund Division needs to take over the Lehigh Reclamation Plan. Water Treatment System – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – How long will there be necessary to treat the water? Removing the mine waste at the WMSA, EMSA, Rock Plant and other areas on the Lehigh property trucking it or using a railway system and transporting it to sites that handle polluted mine waste is necessary. This would ensure that the quality of the groundwater is safe. EPA Superfund Division needs to take over the Lehigh Reclamation Plan in full. Leaving things up to the local agencies is just not enough. 4.6.2 Stormwater Analysis – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – The downstream ﬂooding has always been a great problem with the Permanente Creek the people that live around the creek have suﬀered. The Restoration of the creek is held oﬀ now because of the Lehigh Reclamation Plan Amendment. The joining of the erosion and sedimentation material will add to the ﬂooding. The Permanente Creek has been destroyed because of the Lehigh mining. The public’s Health and Safety has not been really considered. The question is what happens to the sedimentations in the basins? The amount of the polluted sediment will increase dramatically if the WMSA and EMSA mine waste material is not removed. There is mine waste overburden on the east foothills next to the Lehigh quarry that no one seems to be talking about how will that be handled? Driving down the Stevens Creek Blvd. in Cupertino it can be seen up in the foothills. I have tried to ﬁnd out what this is all about I was just told that SCC approved the dumping at this location. I would like to ﬁnd out what is going on and hope that the EPA Superfund Division can help. 4.6.3 Siltation and Pollutants – Read on Skip down 4.9 Final Closure Considerations – 4.9.1 Background – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – Mine Waste material that is located at the WMSA. ESA it states is Nonhazardous waste material I completely disagree. It goes on to state that the mine waste could exceed water quality standard objectives or degrade water of the state and this waste could have the potential to adversely aﬀect groundwater quality. I am very concerned about aquifer below the Silicon Valley our drinking water has been and is subjected to pollution that is coming from the Lehigh quarry and property. The EPA Superfund Division should be called in to take over the Reclamation Plan in order to make sure that the Lehigh land is cleaned. The Permanente Creek Restoration Project has been held up due to the Lehigh Reclamation Plan Amendment. One must ask how can this be allowed to take 40 or 50 years? Many of us the public will be dead before it is completed and will never see the outcome of all of the time spent and money wasted. Each Reclamation Plan and EIR is money spent and Lehigh is paying for it. I would think that that money should be used for the Reclamation clean up. Bringing in the EPA immediately is crucial there is no time to delay. The EPA Superfund Division has experts in the ﬁeld of pollution clean up at the most dangerously polluted places in the United State. The Lehigh land all of it is highly polluted and I must ask no demand that they handle the complete Lehigh Reclamation Plan. I also ask that they handle the Steven Creek Quarry and mine clean up with another EPA Superfund Site. All of the land at this site should be cleaned up. 4.9.2 Structures and Equipment – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comment- The structures especially are full of cement processing residue and the ground is saturated with it. The soil in the Silicon Valley is as hard as concrete due to the pollution that has spread over the valley. Our homes are covered with this cement dust. The Rock Plant is still operating spreading this dust all over and no one seems to care. The structures are old and full of rats, mice and pigeons living in them. They need to be torn down and removed they are polluted and should be trucked or trained over to a site that handles polluted debris such as this. The soil beneath them is also contaminated with the cement plant dust and pollution this soil needs to be removed. Anything and everything at the cement plant such especially the kiln gas line that has been capped oﬀ. This is a very dangerous situation. I have mentioned to the staﬀ people at the Santa Clara County and the City of Cupertino that if there was a ﬁre the cement plant kiln would catch ﬁre and it would then be like a bomb going oﬀ. There have been ﬁres at Lehigh over the years. Here are condos near by the cement plant they would be destroyed and there would be a loss of life and property. The Cement Plant is not included in the Lehigh Reclamation Plan and it should be not sure why that is maybe someone can tell me? Let ’s remember who wrote the Lehigh Reclamation Plan and the Amendment and who has allowed it to go forward. Everything in the plan has gone through the Santa Clara County Planning Department. The necessity of calling in the EPA Superfund Division to take over the Lehigh Permanente Reclamation Amendment and EIR needs to take place ASAP. 4.9.3 Closure of Drill Holes, Water Wells, and Monitoring Wells. Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comment – Abandoning Wells is a diﬃcult and complicated process and it could be a great problem on the Lehigh land. I do not think any more monitoring wells should be drilled. The EPA Superfund Site Division could set up other kinds of monitoring that maybe more eﬃcient and less obstructive to the land. They could also move the Reclamation Plan work forward in a shorter amount of time this is necessary in order to protect the public from any further harm to the valley’s ground water. 4.9.5 Impact of Reclamation on Future Mining – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – I have mentioned that the process in which the Lehigh Quarry is being ﬁlled may not keep the water that is seeping in from the aquifer into the quarry pit from happening. It states remaining cement-grade limestone existing in the Quarry below 990 MSI elevation will be buried beneath back ﬁll and buttress File. My question is what cement grade limestone? What form is it? Are there large boulders of a such that will be placed at the bottom of the pit to seal it oﬀ? I have mentioned to people that there should be large boulders placed at the bottom of the Lehigh Quarry and then a mixture of cement pored over them to seal the Quarry pit oﬀ completely from the water table below. Lehigh mined to deeply and they knew that this was wrong but they did it anyway. No agency, Santa Clara County or Cupertino City ever did anything about this and that was wrong. The Quarry should be sealed oﬀ immediately and the EPA Superfund Site Division can and will see that it is. Make them in charge let them take over the Lehigh Reclamation Plan ASAP. 4.9.6 Public Safety Considerations – Read on Cathy Helgeson – Comments – I wish to add here that in the future after the cleanup on the Lehigh land has been completed that the Lehigh land should be suitable for not only open space but for residential housing, housing projects, and commercial use. It states that the monitoring on the Lehigh property will use security guards. The public should be allowed in some way to view what is taking place and Santa Clara County should provide a way to do so with cameras to view the work being done. This is not the case and SCC is allowed to case the joint but the public is not allowed to view the site. Bill Almon in the past ﬂew over by plane the Lehigh property many years ago to view the Quarry I guess that maybe the only way the public can see the damage done to the land. Bill was a strong advocate against Lehigh and the pollution he lived up in the Los Altos hills he could look down on the quarry. The pollution from the quarry the dust was all over his home and car. I suspect that this is still a problem with the Rock quarry there. Bill passed away from cancer probably due to the Lehigh Cement Plant and quarry mining. I am another person who has suﬀered from the Lehigh pollution and have had cancer twice and three surgeries. My husband had cancer and my dogs also died from cancer and heart murmurs. I still live in the Silicon Valley in the Valley Green area behind Target Store. The dust is still all over my home and I suﬀer from diabetes and asthma. We can never allow another Lehigh to mine a new mine below the existing north quarry mine and we can never allow another cement plant to process cement. 5. Financial Assistance – Read on Cathy Helgerson – Comments – Does the Lehigh Permanente, Heidelberg Corporation have enough money for the Reclamation Plan? I do not think that they do even with the large bond that they have held for this purpose. Santa Clara County has to determine how much money would it take for the complete Reclamation Plan and the Permanente Creek Restoration to take place and ﬁnish. The EPA Superfund Site Division could probably be able to determine just how much money will be needed to setup an EPA Superfund Site cleanup. Lehigh is using the Rock Plant sale of product and the contractors dumping their soil in the quarry pit for a fee to pay their employees who are still working there for them. I do not think that any amount of money they could ever make would pay for the Reclamation Plan. Will Lehigh be able to pay for the Reclamation Plan and the Permanente Creek Restoration project someone ﬁnd out and give the public the answer? I have gone as far as I can with my comments to make sure that the Lehigh Permanente Reclamation Plan and Permanente Restoration Plan will be carried out correctly. I have mentioned over and over again that the EPA Superfund Division needs to take over the in order to make sure that things are carried out legally, honestly and completely and to make sure that the public is protected from any further pollution. The urgency of this is evident and Santa Clara County needs to understand what the public wants and how things should be carried out. I have worked for over 20 years and still counting. I will continue to keep ﬁghting as an advocate against the Lehigh Permanente Heidelburg Corporation’s spread of horrible pollution that they have poisoned the public with. They cannot be allowed to continue to poison our Air, Water and Soil. I say it is time to call in the EPA Superfund Division to d the job so please lets do all we can to make sure our voices are heard. From:tracykosol@gmail.com To:City Clerk; City Council; Tina Kapoor Subject:Written comments for 7/15 meeting (no agenda item) Date:Monday, July 14, 2025 11:36:54 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Dear Cupertino City Council, Thank you for the wonderful Jollyman Park Playground renovation. As someone who has been to practically every park in our local vicinity, particularly during the pandemic when there was nowhere else to take kids, I can say wholeheartedly that this is one of the most thoughtfully-designed playgrounds I have been to in the South Bay. It has been awhile since I have seen my children (ages 5&7) so fully and creatively engage with a playground: The window on the side of the play house was their imaginary concessions stand for ice cream and chicken nuggets, the smooth flat rock was an “airplane”, and the slide mountain became home to countless games of chase. Watching them explore its grounds, it’s quite evident that this space was designed with creativity and imagination in mind. I have been coming to Jollyman for years even prior to its remodel. I have seen the traffic levels, and can say for a fact that the park has never had so many visitors consistently before. There truly is something for everyone. I see the younger children hanging out at the sandbox, older children climbing the rope structure, and children looking for less physical play arriving with boxes of chalk for the wall. We, the parents, particularly appreciate the live shade trees and landscaping, which provide a comfortable place to wait at a far cooler temperature than shade sails can ever achieve. Jollyman has now gone from sleepy Cupertino park to a true destination that brings our community together. Thank you to this council, former councils, and staff for taking the time to invest in this project, gather community feedback, and obtain the grant funding to make it a reality! With gratitude, Tracy