Transport Agency Receives Approval to Operate Rock Crusher

A San Diego, Calif., Superior Court Judge has decided that the North County Transit District can temporarily operate a rock crusher to help build the Sprinter light-rail loop in San Marcos, Calif., but must work with nearby residents to establish conditions for its use.

Superior Court Judge Lisa Guy-Schall directed that transit district officials meet with residents in the coming week to address in writing issues such as when the rock crushing will finish and how noise and dust will be monitored.

The judge plans to keep tabs on the situation, and set an injunction hearing for Oct. 21 so she could halt the operation if the district fails to abide by the conditions.

Transit officials said the judge's decision not to grant a temporary restraining order allows them to proceed with the $365 million project to build the 22-mile Sprinter line between Oceanside and Escondido.

The transit district also needs to reconfigure and maintain a temporary road it built after closing Breezy Way for the rock crusher, and they must work with residents on the street to figure out how they will receive mail and trash services, according to the judge's directions.

According to the North County Times, Transit district spokesman Tom Kelleher said he had not heard of the five-week time estimate and said the operation should last between nine and 12 weeks, because officials estimate they need to process 80,000 to 100,000 tons of rock.

The district had to blast the rock away from a nearby hillside, and wants to crush the rock on-site because it plans to use it in nearby construction. Crushing the rock on-site means 4,000 fewer large trucks have to travel on San Marcos roads, Kelleher said. North County (California) Times