Don't Let Our Valley Become a Mining Town!

How would the proposed Liberty Quarry impact you?

Property Values

Health Concerns

Traffic

Environmental Impacts

Property values

For most of us, our home is the largest investment we will ever make. Can we let a mine put this investment at risk?

Health Concerns

Silicosis is a respiratory disease caused by inhalation of silica dust, which leads to inflammation and scarring of the lung tissue.

Three types of silicosis are seen:

	Simple chronic silicosis -- results from long-term exposure (more than 20 years) to low amounts of silica dust. Nodules of chronic inflammation and scarring provoked by the silica dust form in the lungs and chest lymph nodes. This disease may feature breathlessness and may resemble chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
	Accelerated silicosis -- occurs after exposure to larger amounts of silica over a shorter period of time (5 - 15 years). Inflammation, scarring, and symptoms progress faster in accelerated silicosis than in simple silicosis.
	Acute silicosis -- results from short-term exposure to very large amounts of silica. The lungs become very inflamed and may fill with fluid, causing severe shortness of breath and low blood oxygen levels.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors

Silica is a common, naturally-occurring crystal. It is found in most rock beds and forms dust during mining, quarrying, tunneling, and work with many metal ores. Silica is a main component of sand, so glass workers and sand-blasters also receive heavy exposure to silica.

Risk factors include any work that includes exposure to silica dust. Mining, stone cutting, quarrying, road and building construction, work with abrasives manufacturing, sand blasting and many other occupations and hobbies involve exposure to silica.

Intense exposure to silica may result in disease in a year or less, but it usually takes at least 10 or 15 years of exposure before symptoms develop.

	Diesel exhaust fumes are severe air pollutants and can increase respiratory ailments.
	The natural geographic feature of the Rainbow gap that brings fresh ocean air to our Valley would bring the dust and pollutants directly into our neighborhoods. With over 40 schools in our valley, our children would be at risk of increased asthma and associated symptoms. Adults with emphysema would also suffer.

Traffic

	1,400 truck trips per day (more than 1 a minute) will have to enter and leave the open-pit mine from the Rainbow Valley Boulevard interchange onto Interstate 15.
	Heavy-laden aggregate trucks will cause damage to our existing, already overburdened roadways, as well as cause damage to our personal vehicles from flying rocks.
	There will be a direct increase of truck traffic through our Valley.

Environmental Impacts

	San Diego State University's unique 4, 344-acre outdoor classroom and hands-on library, the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve (SMER) will be severely impacted or even destroyed. Dr. Stephen L. Weber, President of San Diego State University, states: "The diverse impacts associated with gravel mining and processing plants pose a serious threat to the continued success and persistence of SMER, placing data, research, education and service at risk. "
	Groundwater seepage from the operations of the open-pit gravel mine risks polluting the Santa Margarita River - the last free-flowing river in Southern California.
	The open-pit mine would destroy the Santa Ana - Palomar Linkage and put into danger the entire ecosystem of the Santa Ana Mountains. The proposed mining site is located right in the Santa Ana - Palomar Linkage. This linkage is the only viable wildlife habitat corridor between the Santa Ana Mountains and the Palomar Mountains.

Follow this link to get involved now before it's too late!

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PO Box 2196, Temecula, CA 92593 951.676.6912

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