Carmelita Mine and Reclamation Project EIR Upheld in Court of Appeal on All Counts

December 8th, 2014

In Friends of Kings River v. Fresno County, the court of appeal for the 5th District unanimously upheld the Carmelita Mine and Reclamation Project EIR on all counts, as detailed in the Reuter’s December 11, 2014, article. In that article, Colony Land Co. (the owner of the mine) provided the following quote: “We are very pleased with the Court’s ruling,” said Michael Mallery, counsel for Colony Land Co. “This ruling validates the collective, thorough and thoughtful efforts put forth by our entire team, to make this project one that will benefit the region for decades.” The Carmelita Mine is located on 1,500 acres and will mine 1.25 million tons of aggregate a year.

Benchmark Resources served as the technical lead throughout the application and public approval process. Colony Land Co. retained Benchmark Resources in late 2009 to assist it with the preparation of the application package and early environmental evaluations. The Benchmark team gathered preeminent experts in air quality, geotechinical, hydrology, biology, soils, and traffic and prepared an extensive application that included environmental assessments evaluating the impacts of the project. Under the guidance of Mr. Mallery, the Benchmark team worked with several agencies and stakeholders to navigate the environmental review and public hearing process. Benchmark Resources is assisting Colony Land Co, in obtaining subsequent permits and County administrative approvals. The Carmelita Mine is scheduled to begin operations sometime in mid-2015.

For more information about this project, please contact Bruce Steubing at (916) 983-3379.