The director of the California Department of Transportation’s
District 8, a territory that includes Riverside and San Bernardino
counties, is no longer listed as a supporter of Granite
Construction’s Liberty Quarry project.

The change was made by Granite after District 8 Director Ray
Wolfe sent a letter July 28 that was copied to both Riverside
County Supervisor Bob Buster and Anne Mayer, the executive director
of the Riverside County Transportation Commission.

From the letter: “Caltrans is not taking a position on the
Liberty Quarry project, and to the extent that our previous
correspondence was viewed as such, we apologize for any
confusion.”

“Previous correspondence,” according to the July 28 letter,
includes a letter sent to the same officials July 13. That letter,
a copy of which was obtained by The Californian, asks the officials
to “keep in mind” the need for the project for supplying a
critically needed resource as well as the environmental benefits of
reducing truck traffic through Riverside County and reducing
associated mobile source emissions.

“It will benefit Riverside County and local taxpayers in the
long run,” Wolfe wrote.

Northern California-based Granite has proposed operating the
mine within a 400-acre property between the San Diego County line
and Temecula’s southern border. At full capacity, the 135-acre
quarry is expected to generate 5 million tons of aggregate rock per
year.

After the Planning Commission completes its review of the
project, its recommendations will be sent to the county Board of
Supervisors, which will have the final say. The commission meets
again to discuss the project at 9 a.m. Monday at Rancho Community
Church in Temecula.

Gary Johnson, the project manager for the quarry, explained
Granite’s decision to remove Caltrans from the list of supporters
on promotional materials.

“Since they didn’t mention Liberty Quarry by name, we thought we
would remove it,” he said.

Numerous state agencies including Caltrans have noted the
benefits of more local aggregate facilities, he said.

“Obviously, Liberty Quarry is one of those,” he said.

In addition, Johnson said detailed studies show that Liberty
Quarry would reduce truck traffic in Riverside County by up to 16.5
million truck miles per year.

Opponents of the proposed quarry, a list that includes the
Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians and grass-roots groups such as
Save Our Southwest Hills, applauded the decision to remove Caltrans
as a supporter.

“That letter (July 28) only reconfirms what were told by the
former head of Caltrans (Randy Iwasaki) back in 2010,” said Fred
Bartz, a member of both SOS Hills and Clean Air Temecula, another
anti-quarry group. “A state agency is not supposed to support a
private project.”

Bartz and some other anti-quarry folks met with Iwasaki after
Wolfe appeared during a Local Agency Formation Commission hearing
in Riverside in 2009 to consider Temecula’s request to annex land
on its southern borders that included the quarry property.

At the time, Bartz and others felt it was inappropriate for
Wolfe to appear and discuss the need for aggregate, especially
because the topic wasn’t even being considered by the county
boundary-setting agency.

As for why Wolfe felt it was necessary to apologize for any
confusion sparked by his July 13 letter, Wolfe did not respond to
multiple messages. When pressed late last week, his office released
a “no comment” as his official response.

Responding to multiple calls Wednesday to state Caltrans
officials in Sacramento, a department spokeswoman, Irene Coyazo,
issued a statement Thursday.

“Caltrans sent the letter confirming our intention to provide
factual information on the importance of aggregate for state
transportation projects, rather than to support any specific
project,” she said.

Call staff writer Aaron Claverie at 951-676-4315, ext. 2624.