Mexico-based Cemex is planning on starting its mining operations at the much-disputed Soledad Canyon location near the Stonecrest development in 2008. "We fully expect to continue the planning process and start the operations within the next two years," said Susana Duarte, a Cemex spokeswoman. Cemex could mine up to 70 million tons of sand and gravel over the next 20 years, with up to 600 trucks a day going in and out of the facility. Cemex plans to mine 177 acres on the southern slope of a ridge just off Soledad Canyon Road in Santa Clarita, east of the Antelope Valley Freeway and facing away from it. The property is about a mile from the nearest residential neighborhood and is about a 1/4-mile long. A crew of about 40 workers would blast, excavate and process the sand and gravel removed from the mining location from 5am to 10pm Monday through Saturday. Detonations would cease between 7pm and 7am. Cemex would post public notices in local newspapers and online before blasting. Now wouldn't that put a jolt in your morning coffee if you lived nearby? KA-BOOM!!! Unless Stonecrest residents have a vested interest in this noisy, air-polluting operation, it's beyond comprehension why they wouldn't do everything in their power to avoid this, including working for a rapid annexation to the Big Bad City of Santa Clarita. Not to say that the annexation would be a guarantee that the Cemex operation could be halted, but it would definitely give the City of Santa Clarita more weight in their attempts to halt Cemex. | 
