Anthem residents voice opposition to proposed mines

Mona Shield Payne / Special to the Sun

This photograph from December 2008 shows the entrance to the Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area. Nearby, two mining companies are seeking approval from the Bureau of Land Management to start a 640-acre rock-excavation operation, agitating Henderson residents concerned about dust and noise.

By Cara McCoy

Tuesday, April 21, 2009 | 1:25 a.m.

Mona Shield Payne / Special to the Sun

This photograph from December 2008 shows a view of the Las Vegas Strip from the Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area. Nearby, two mining companies are seeking approval from the Bureau of Land Management to start a 640-acre rock-excavation operation, agitating Henderson residents concerned about dust and noise.

On the surface, Monday night's forum on a 640-acre rock-excavation operation in Sloan Canyon was a non-partisan gathering for Anthem-area residents to air their concerns to government officials -- elected or otherwise.

Dig a little deeper, however, and the stage is being set for a battle between Henderson residents, mine operators and the federal government.

Opponents argue the two pit mines near their planned communities could bring excessive noise, toxic dust and possibly earthquakes because the mines would be dug across fault lines and explosions could help to loosen rock.

Not to mention fears over what a rock mining and crushing operation could do to property values.

At Monday night’s forum, the federal government was represented by Mark Chatterton, the assistant field manager for the Las Vegas field office of the Bureau of Land Management.

Chatterton spent the evening explaining the technicalities of the BLM’s proposal. He also spent the evening dodging barbs hurled by many of the nearly 30 residents invited to address the panel.

He was joined on stage at the Independence Center's Freedom Hall, 2460 Hampton Road in Henderson, by Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev.; Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak, who represents District A; Tina Gingras, with the Clark County Department of Air Quality and Environmental Management; and Andres Moses, a member of Rep. Dean Heller's staff, who attended on behalf of the Republican congressman.

No representatives of either mining company seeking permits were present.

The 640-acre site off Las Vegas Boulevard South near the Sloan exit off Interstate 15 is about five miles southwest of the Anthem community.

While the mines would sit on federal land, the plans grow murky because the geography is complicated. The mining site would be on a patch of unincorporated Clark County surrounded by 3,500 acres of land that Henderson annexed in December 2006. The annexed stretch of land runs 10 miles along Las Vegas Boulevard, south of St. Rose Parkway, but doesn’t include the swatch of land where the mines could be built.

Mexico-based Cemex, the world’s third-largest cement company, and California-based Service Rock Products, have proposals in front of the BLM to lease the land. They say they want to operate the mining and rock-crushing facility 24 hours a day, every day, for about 30 years, BLM officials say.

The rub is that Nevada will see only a sliver of money that comes from leasing the land. Chatterton said the money would be split between several federal accounts, with a good chunk of it going to, among other places, government agencies in California.

Residents who live nearby stated a laundry list of concerns: Excessive toxic dust, loud noise, an abundance of heavy equipment, frequent use of explosives, danger from flammable liquids at the site, water-use problems and subsequent problems resulting from all of the above straddling two earthquake fault lines, according to Sun City Anthem's Open Pit Mine Opposition group, which is mobilizing against the mines.

Sisolak warned the crowd that filled the 300-seat theater and spilled into an overflow room that unlike other mining sites in the county, commissioners wouldn't be able to regulate the hours of operation or noise level. The only concern the county or the city of Henderson could regulate would be air quality, he said.

Like many in the audience, Sisolak sported a white T-shirt with the words "Sloan Hills gravel pit" in big letters with a red circle and line through them.

"I'm committed on behalf of Clark County that we will fight this tooth and nail to the last, the bitter end," he said.

Titus also was opposed to the mines. She vowed to continue the fight against the mines in Washington, D.C., and said she hopes to work with Heller's office to combat the proposals. Although the mines wouldn't be in her district, her constituents would be affected, she said.

"I think what's important is that we stay engaged in the decision-making process," she said. "... We need to be sure that they hear our voices about what the negative implications will be. This is not what we need in this area."

Sun City Anthem resident Rivka Wolf expressed frustration over what she called poor planning by the city of Henderson.

"What kind of planning is it -- when you look at Summerlin, it's pre-planned (but) when you look at the city of Henderson, it has no plans. To do something like this and to put people into peril ... I just cannot understand," she said.

Within the past six months, about 4,000 residents in the communities of Sun City Anthem, Anthem Highlands, Anthem Country Club and Madeira Canyon have signed a petition opposing the mines. About 12,000 people live in Sun City Anthem.

Frank Blaha, one of the organizers behind the petition drive, said he was pleased with the turnout at Monday's forum.

"This is going to be a political decision that may come down to Democrats and Republicans, but that's not what this meeting was about," Blaha said. "People are seeing more and more how serious it is."

The BLM is still gathering information to formulate an environmental impact statement, which is a tool the BLM and other agencies use in making decisions. Chatterton said that document likely will be ready in October or November. It will be released first in a draft form that the public can comment on.

Kathy Gillespie, 57, president of the Anthem Country Club Community Association, said she's worried about what health problems the dust could cause. In the end, she said, the decision is up to politicians.

"I've only got one lung, so 10 days out of the year I'm either supposed to stay inside or use a mask,” she said. “A lot of that air quality, you don't even know the damage for years and years and years to come."