Archive
Public Meeting on Proposed Limestone Mine in Davidson Canyon
3.28.2007
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will describe plans for and accept public
comment on a proposal to mine limestone from a new quarry in Davidson
Canyon southeast of Tucson at a meeting in Vail on Wednesday, March
28.
California Portland Cement, the parent of Arizona Portland Cement,
wants to scoop limestone from a new Davidson Canyon quarry for at least
the next 20 years to supply raw material to the Arizona Portland Cement
plant in Rillito, northwest of Tucson.
The public meeting is from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Cienega High School
Library/Media Center, 12775 Mary Ann Cleveland Way in Vail.
Pima County and environmental groups oppose the proposed mine because
Davidson Canyon Creek provides streamside wildlife habitat that is vitally
important for hundreds of Sonoran Desert species, some of them rare
or even endangered. This type of water-fed habitat, once abundant in
the region, now is limited to a precious few areas. Davidson Canyon
also feeds Cienega Creek, a state-designated Unique Water, in the county’s
Cienega Creek Nature Preserve.
The public comments will help guide the bureau’s environmental
study of the proposal under the National Environmental Policy Act.