People who live in Temecula are covering their ears, waiting for the BOOM! The Riverside County Board of Supervisors may just come to a decision soon on whether or not a massive granite quarry will be allowed to operate at almost 1,000 feet deep and nearly a mile long within the confines of a beautiful and important nature reserve. With all of the trucking and blasting that will be going on, some residents in the surrounding area of Temecula and Northern San Diego are afraid that their peaceful and quiet lifestyles will be disturbed.
Supporters of the quarry claim that the digging and blasting activity will not disturb anything in its vicinity and in fact will provide 100 new jobs for the surrounding communities as well as cut down on the time it takes to move quarry supplies to nearby Riverside County.
Some in Temecula counter that air quality will decrease mightily and with it the local quality of life, hurting child health in the process. So, Temecula is doing something about it and attempting to annex about 5,000 acres in order to save the quarry site and protect the reserve space.
The company behind the quarry has countered with friendly open-house and town meetings, giving tours of its Indio quarry. Few showed up. Residents who asked about potential noise pollution were told that blasting would be barely heard. However, explosions from a Camp Pendleton almost 20 miles away are frequently felt throughout the area.
Decisions like this one are never easy decisions. Thankfully, it's in the hands of the County Board.