FORIMMEDIATERELASE Contact:JacobMejia,(951)6750586

PechangaSponsorsLegislationtoProtectTribesPlaceofCreation
Pechanga Indian Reservation, CA, August 4, 2011 The Pechanga Band of Luiseo Indians today announced it is sponsoring a bipartisan bill with more than 30 coauthors in the State Legislature to protectthemountainthatistheverybirthplaceofcreationforPechangaandotherLuiseotribesfrom beingblastedandexcavatedasamineforthenext75years. GraniteConstructionInc.isseekingRiversideCountysapprovalofitsSurfaceMiningPermitApplication todeveloptheLibertyQuarry,whichwouldbeoneofthelargestopenpithardrockminesintheUnited States generating 5 million tons of aggregate each year. Located just 500 yards from the Pechanga IndianReservation,theLibertyQuarrywouldproduce270milliontonsofaggregatebyblastingacrater aswideas117footballfieldsandasdeepastheEmpireStateBuildingistalllessthanofamilefrom theheavilypopulatedCityofTemecula. UponreviewingLibertyQuarrysDraftEnvironmentalImpactReport,thePechangaBanddeterminedthe 414acre project would cause irreparable and immitigable destruction to this place of creation. Our Tribeparticipatedintheenvironmentalreviewprocessandtookextraordinaryandunprecedentedsteps toprovideRiversideCountywithethnographicandotherevidencedetailingthesignificanceofthisarea toPechanga,saidTribalChairmanMarkMacarro. GranitesownethnographicexpertsacknowledgedthesiteassignificanttotheTribe.PublishedinMay 2009,theEthnographyStudynoted,itisclearthatmuchifnotalloftheLibertyQuarryprojectarea lieswithinalandscapethatthePechangaTriberegardsasspirituallysignificantAssuch,thislandscape iseligibleforNationalRegisterofHistoricPropertiesnominationasaTCP[TraditionalCulturalProperty] district. CountyplanningstaffinMarch,however,wroteintheFinalEnvironmentalImpactReporttheCounty respectfully disagreeswiththe Tribes characterizationoftheareainandaroundtheProjectSiteasa TCP and found the devastating cultural impacts to be less than significant under the California EnvironmentalQualityAct(CEQA). That county planners deemed our Tribes place of creation insignificant under CEQA despite overwhelmingandindependentevidencetothecontraryisdisgraceful,saidTribalChairmanMacarro. Becausecountyplannershavefailedtohonorthespiritofthelawdesignedtoprotectsuchareas,we areforcedtoseekadditionallegislationtoprotectourplaceofcreationfromdestruction. (more)

 Authored by Assembly Member Bonnie Lowenthal, DLong Beach, AB 742 would amend the Public Resources Code to include aggregate operations on the list of mining activities restricted near Native Americansacredsites. Ibelieverespectingoneanothersreligiousbeliefsiskeytoahealthysociety,saidLowenthal.And theresprobablynobetterplacetodemonstratethisthanonamountainwheresomebelievelifeitself began,shesaid. ScholarssaythatKamalamPomkiisanalogoustotheGardenofEdenasthelocationofcreationorto theWailingWallorSistineChapelintermsofspiritualsignificance. Itisnotanoptiontotellourfuturegenerationsthattheirplaceofcreation,thebasisoftheirhistory and their very identity, used to be here, said Macarro. As any other People would, we will bring to bearalloftheresourcesatourdisposaltoprotectthissacredareafromthepermanentdestructionthis massiveminewouldcause. ThecontroversialLibertyQuarryisalsoopposedbytheCityofTemecula,theSantaMargaritaEcological Reserve that is immediately adjacent to the proposed area, thousands of residents, hundreds of businesses, more than 150 physicians that live and work in the Temecula Valley, Southern California IndianTribes,andeveryfederallyrecognizedLuiseoTribe. ProponentsoftheLibertyQuarryarguethattheminewillcreateatotalof99jobs.However,theRose Institute of State and Local Government at Claremont McKenna College analyzed Granites economic impactreportandfoundthesequarryjobswillbemorethanoffsetbyjoblossesintourism,realestate, construction,andagriculture. Calculating all of the benefits and the costs associated with the proposed Liberty Quarry, the Rose Instituteestimatesthatthequarrywillreducepropertyvaluesby$540millionandcosttheregionan additional$80millionperyearwithanestimatedtotalcumulativenetnegativeimpactof$3.6billion totheregion. #