Lehigh Reclamation Plan

Please express concerns:  Lehigh/Heidelberg quarry reclamation plan

Lehigh Quarry: Jitze Couperus

What is Happening and why is this important?

The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (Midpen) Midpen Board of Directors will hold their Lehigh/Heidelberg Annual Meeting on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. At this meeting, the Midpen board of directors will receive a presentation from Lehigh/Heidelberg staff. Discussion is expected to focus on the latest 2023 Reclamation Plan Amendment application submitted to Santa Clara County. 

We all rejoiced when Lehigh/Heidelberg announced the closure of the cement plant and lessening of quarry activities. This  has led to a significant decrease in the deposition of airborne dust from the Quarry property into neighborhoods and open space. However,  Lehigh/Heidelberg remains a threat to our communities.  

The new 2023 reclamation plan proposes to import construction/demolition materials to fill the main quarry pit in lieu of using the quarry’s stored mining-waste (WMSA) stockpile. This would:

• Result in 600 truck trips a day for 30 years - think traffic and emissions!

• Leave the WMSA stockpile as a permanent feature on the landscape, with risk of landslides into Permanente Creek or Rancho San Antonio  Preserve. 

• Leave the ridgeline that separates the quarry from Midpen’s Open Space land unprotected, potentially for decades. 

In addition, the new 2023 reclamation plan:

• Does not provide sufficient restoration to improve habitat connectivity through the future reclaimed quarry landscape.

• Does not provide restoration of Permanente Creek

• Does not preserve surrounding undeveloped open space lands on the Quarry property in Palo Alto and Cupertino

Heidelberg’s near-term and long-term management of the property remains problematic and opaque, especially for the eventual planned transfer upon cessation of commercial production activities to another entity. 

What can you do?

Use the information provided in this alert to express your concerns: 

1. Email the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Board of Directors. Please use the public comment form here
   Note the meeting date is 7/26 and it is Item 6.

2. Participate in the meeting
   The meeting starts at 7PM (although this item may be heard a little after 7PM). You may watch on  ZOOM and speak on Agenda Item 6 (if you’d like to speak, please REGISTER IN ADVANCE. Follow directions here.
   
   

Or you may attend in person at the Districts headquarters at 5050 El Camino Real, Los Altos.

Thank you

August 2023 Conservation Corner

How to report intentional harm to birds and their habitat

SCVAS is often alerted by our members to actions that harm birds and their habitat. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife investigates cases of habitat destruction, pollution and poaching, and allows people to report violations anonymously. If you encounter someone polluting or destroying a creek, for example, you can report it at CALTIP - Californians Turn in Poachers and Polluters.

If you have evidence, please include it in your report.

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What is happening at the Lehigh quarry?

Lehigh Quarry: Jitze Couperus

The Lehigh site currently has two primary uses. One encompasses the cement kiln and the manufacture, storage, and distribution of cement; the other involves the quarrying and processing of quarried material, some of which is transported off-site as aggregate, and some of which has historically been used on-site as feedstock for the cement kiln. The cement plant and quarry are both part of the Lehigh property, which encompasses 3,510 acres, 2,656 of which are in unincorporated Santa Clara County. The remaining land is within the cities of Cupertino and Palo Alto.

In March 2023, we rejoiced when Lehigh announced the cessation of cement production and stated that it does not intend to quarry new material from the pit or elsewhere on site. However, the company plans to continue processing already quarried material for sale as aggregate, and has recently submitted a new proposed reclamation plan amendment. The proposed new reclamation plan is of great concern. Please see our alert for details, and act today.

Meanwhile, Supervisor Simitian has brokered an agreement between Santa Clara County and the City of Cupertino, stipulating that the City and County will work together to ensure that Lehigh and any future owners of the property prevent and eliminate any conditions that could be considered a nuisance or pose a danger to public health or the environment. The agreement also requires that in order for development to proceed, reclamation, restoration, and environmental remediation of the site must be moving forward in compliance with all applicable laws, policies, and regulations. We will continue to follow the issues related to Lehigh and call on you to support our work to ensure that the 100-year environmental injury that Lehigh imposed on our communities and our landscapes is properly addressed. Again, please see our action alert here and act today!

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Hope for Lake Cunningham?

Lake Cunningham is a man-made lake in East San Jose that has long suffered from poor water quality. SCVAS and other organizations have been advocating with the City of San Jose to devote significant funding to improve water quality in the lake. 

In June 2022 we were successful in asking the City to use the remaining $3.2 Million dollars from Measure T (a 2018 $650 million disaster preparedness bond) to address improving water quality and restoring Lake Cunningham, stating:

“[Lake Cunningham] is an ecological and an environmental equity issue. The City Council has the opportunity to start rehabilitating this critical neighborhood lake that can transform both our nature and underserved communities in East San José. “

However, in March 2023, the City reversed this allocation, but also accepted a grant from the Open Space Authority for a pilot wetland project. Our public comments included:

“Lake Cunningham is in a sorry state. It is toxic to fish and wildlife, and inhospitable to the eastside community that cares so deeply about it.

Worldwide, constructed wetlands are used as Green Infrastructure features to provide habitat for wildlife and clean water naturally and inexpensively. Using constructed wetlands to clean the water of Lake Cunningham will benefit both the community and the ecosystem. 

Please authorize the City Manager to secure a grant from the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority for the design and environmental review of a Prototype Wetland Restoration Project, and direct staff to seek additional local, state, and federal grants. Please let the SCVAS know about opportunities to support grant applications for this purpose.” 

The City of San Jose ended up diverting the 3.2 million dollars to public safety reserve, and looking elsewhere (Open Space Authority, state and federal budgets) to fund a pilot project for constructed wetlands. We are glad to learn that the state’s budget has allocated $1.5 million to improving East San Jose, including Lake Cunningham. The San Jose Spotlight reports that  San Jose Assemblymember Ash Kalra, who pushed for the funding in the state budget, said the money will mostly go toward restoring the wetlands in hopes of further improving the water quality in the lake.

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Should bus shelters be kind to birds?

One of the glass-forward bus shelters in question

Please email us at Advocate@scvas.org and express your opinion on this design of bus shelters (this one is located in the Stanford Industrial Park). We would like to use quotes from our members in our presentation to the City of Palo Alto and the VTA.

July 2023 Conservation Corner

In Mountain View, SCVAS supported the adoption of Google’s North Bayshore Master Plan, which looks for the construction of 7,000 residential units; 26 acres of public parks and open space; and 3 million square feet of office space, as well as community facilities and bicycle and pedestrian improvements. 

Our organization has participated in planning processes in North Bayshore for over a decade. As trusted advisors to Google, we witnessed how they embraced nature and transformed North Bayshore from a standard office park to a beautiful, butterfly infused campus where monarch and swallowtail flutter, and a special place for birds where egrets and herons, black phoebes and bluebirds raise their new generations. 

We look forward to implementation of the biodiversity-supporting elements of the North Bayshore Precise Plan and the Google Master Plan, especially the future Eco Gem which will replace buildings with a nature-themed park adjacent to the Charleston retention basin. 

Our advocacy efforts in Mountain View are entering a new and exciting phase: Mountain View is starting to explore how to enhance the city’s  urban landscapes for birds and pollinators and implement the City’s Wide Biodiversity goal.

Supporting nature in an urban environment takes intent and attention. Not only do we want to transition landscaping towards California-native species that support all life cycles of birds and pollinators, but we want to change our landscaping maintenance practices and allow leaf litter to accumulate where possible,  allow plants to grow in their  natural form and densities (rather than square and round plants), and reduce maintenance work during the nesting season.

Shoreline Park and the Google campus in North Bayshore set a spectacularly beautiful example of embracing nature in a human-dominated environment, and we are looking forward to participating in the upcoming development of a new Urban Forest Plan, a new Park Master Plan, and enhancements of urban habitats. We hope you, our members and supporters,  will participate and guide Mountain View in this exciting and unique effort. 

The City of Cupertino is in the process of preparing a Master Plan for Memorial park. Public engagement, as always, showed great support for integrating nature into future park design. 

To support biodiversity and integrate nature into a vibrant and colorful parkland, to provide habitat for songbirds and monarch butterflies, and to provide people with a joyful experience, we suggested that in non-turf landscape areas of the park, Cupertino should:

1. plant a variety of plants that have high habitat value, bloom in succession over all seasons, and are at least 80% California native trees and flowering plants from our region

2. Plant at least 3 patches of 100-square feet each of native milkweed plants to support monarch butterflies

3. Work with local ecology stakeholders to develop maintenance best practices that support biodiversity and are bird and pollinator friendly. As the planning process continues, we hope you, our members and supporters, will participate as plans move forward. 

Palo Alto has neglected mitigation and reporting requirements following the construction of the new municipal golf course in 2014. With other Environmental groups, our Environmental Advocacy team has participated in the CEQA process that allowed the reconfiguration of the golf course in 2014. We submitted a lengthy comment letter, concerned with the removal of hundreds of trees, the intentional introduction of an invasive golf course grass species that tolerates saline water, and encroachment of  golfers into designated wetlands. Government agencies also commented, and in 2016  issued a long list of mitigations, conditions and reporting requirements for the creation, plantings and maintenance of mitigation wetlands on the golf course. Unfortunately, Palo Alto failed to implement the mitigations and to measure and report on success.  The City is currently working with the California Water Quality Control Board to correct the problems, and we are working with the City, hoping for a good outcome for the wetlands and the species that depend on them.

On the bright side, the Palo Alto City Council has indicated that the anticipated new contract for the management of the Animal Shelter, release of feral cats will not be permitted. Predation by domestic cats is the number-one direct, human-caused threat to birds in the United States and Canada. Cats have contributed to the extinction of 63 species of birds, mammals, and reptiles in the wild and continue to adversely impact a wide variety of other species, including those at risk of extinction. The ecological dangers are so critical that the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists domestic cats as one of the world’s worst non-native invasive species.

We thank the city of Palo Alto for recognizing that feral cats do not belong anywhere in our landscapes. Domestic cats should be pampered and cherished in our homes, and not be released to hunt birds and other small animals in the baylands, in parks and open space, along creeks or in our backyards. 

The Future of Coyote Valley

The Future of Coyote Valley:

Let’s Focus on Regenerating Historical Ecology

What’s Happening?

The Open Space Authority (OSA) is taking public input to define the future of Coyote Valley. A Spring 2023 community survey is now open for us to express our vision and priorities for the land. While stating that the Coyote Valley Conservation Areas Master Plan will inform how to restore these lands to enhance the natural benefits they provide, the focus of the survey is on how people use the land (recreation, agriculture) rather than on ecosystem restoration for biodiversity and nature itself. Are we losing the opportunity to regenerate a vast (and long gone) valley floor ecosystem, where a tapestry of wetlands, grasslands and oak woodlands once dominated the landscape?  

Why Is This Important?

After  decades of SCVAS advocacy to protect North Coyote Valley, we want to ensure that the plans for the future of this public land reflects what we fought so hard to create: an opportunity to regenerate historical ecosystems and wildlife habitat. While enhancing human experiences and connections with the land with, for example, hiking trails and nature-viewing areas are important, let’s remind OSA that priority should be given to restoring the mosaic of oak woodlands, grasslands, riparian ecosystems and wetlands that once dominated the valley; these are critical to birds and wildlife. Let’s ask OSA to focus on regenerating the ecologically-diverse tapestry of this magnificent valley!

What Can You Do?

Please take the survey by the end of May, and consider the following suggested responses.

• Question 6: Highlight “Enhance Wildlife Habitat and Ecological Connectivity” as the most important goal. 

• Question 7 (free text): Add the following as an additional goal:

• Restore historic oak woodlands, grasslands, riparian ecosystems and wetlands

• Question 11: Avoid choices that promote paved trails, involve activities that create conflicts among trail users, or disturb wildlife.

• Question 12 (free text): 

• Please emphasize the importance of the area to birds and wildlife and the need to prioritize the restoration of oak woodlands, native grasslands, riparian ecosystems and wetland habitats, and ecological connectivity. Ecological restoration should be the highest priority. 

• Encourage OSA to promote organic agriculture and to prohibit the use of plastic (plastic mulch film, plastic coated seeds, greenhouses/tunnels), chemical fertilizers, and pesticides (especially rodenticides).

• Restore oak woodland and native grasslands to sequester carbon. San Jose's Climate Smart Plan notes that oak woodland restoration is the least expensive natural and working lands activity for carbon dioxide sequestration.

• Promote wildlife enhancing elements (such as hedgerows).

• Avoid artificial light at night.