"The Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians and Granite Construction last week announced a deal that ends plans for an open-pit mine near Temecula. The tribe will buy 354 acres of the quarry site for $3 million, and pay Granite another $17.35 million to settle the seven-year dispute. As part of the deal, Granite agreed not to operate a quarry within a six-mile radius north, or a three-mile radius south, of the site through 2035. The mine would have produced aggregate, a type of rock used in construction materials such as cement and asphalt.

The tribe deserves credit for its willingness to spend money to resolve the dispute in a fashion that benefits everyone. Pechanga considers the proposed mine location — west of Interstate 15, just north of the San Diego County line — a sacred site, and had strenuously opposed the project. The sale gives the tribe control of the location, while ending the need for four lawsuits now targeting the project. The sale protects a nearby ecological preserve, and buys considerable public good will — particularly with neighboring Temecula, which also adamantly opposed the quarry."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Quarry-saga win (The Riverside Press-Enterprise 11/18)

Another Opinion:
EDITORIAL: Don’t like it? Buy it (The North County Times 11/18)

Related Stories:
Pechanga Band pays $20M to protect sacred site from mining (11/16)
County fast tracks approval of mine near Pechanga sacred site (8/1)
Developer resubmits bid for mine by Pechanga Band sacred site (7/26)
County rejects quarry mine near Pechanga Band sacred site (2/17)
Planning commission to vote on mine by Pechanga sacred site (12/06)