Item 1: PH on Ordinance Amending Metro Plan (Delta Sand and Gravel)

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based upon Bridgewater’s analysis and conclusions, we find accordingly. We note that, for those types of conflicts addressed by local state or federal standards, to “minimize a conflict” means to ensure conformance to the applicable standard (OAR 660-023-0180(1)(g). Lane County’s airshed is protected and regulated by LRAPA and the applicant currently holds an Air Contaminant Discharge Permit (ACDP) from LRAPA for its existing mining and processing facility on the adjacent Delta property. That ACDP requires that the rock crushing facility of the applicant remain in its current location and also provides a limitation on the amount of rock produced from that facility. We find that the activities proposed for the expansion area will become subject to the current LRAPA ACDP (and regulated thereby) and we find that the applicant has demonstrated that its activities proposed for the expansion area will conform to the standards contained in the current LRAPA ACDP. Bridgewater provides the list of proposed dust control measures that includes the requirement that the expansion area shall be included within the LRAPA ACDP for the existing Delta Sand and Gravel Company operation, and that the provisions of that ACDP shall be followed by the applicant on the proposed expansion site. A copy of the ACDP is attached to the application. The ACDP requires that the LRAPA-approved Fugitive Dust Control Program be followed at the existing company site. The expansion area shall be added to the ACDP and the Fugitive Dust Control Program shall be implemented on the proposed expansion area. Bridgewater recommends additional dust control measures and those measures are listed below in these findings. Opponents of the application testified that they believe that the applicant cannot minimize dust conflicts from the proposed mining with nearby residential land uses and believe that the aggregate extraction process (mining) creates conflicting amounts of dust. We find that potential dust conflicts have been demonstrated to result primarily from three activities associated with mining and processing of aggregate material. Those activities are 1) excavation of the site for aggregate material, 2) transport of the excavated material to the processing facility and 3) the processing facility (rock crushing operations). We find that the current ACDP includes provisions that regulate the manner in which those activities occur on the existing Delta facility site and that control the applicant’s production of airborne particulate matter at a level that meets LRAPA (and Oregon Department of Environmental Quality) standards. Furthermore, we find, based upon testimony provided by the applicant during the elected officials’ joint public hearing (in the form of a video of the current extraction process on the existing mining site), that the process of mining the material does not produce dust as has been argued by the opponents of the application. The applicant’s video is very clear in its depiction of the mining operation and the fact that the mine wall contains significant amounts of groundwater and is in a continual wet condition. The video also clearly demonstrates that the mining of that wet wall produces virtually no dust. The video also contains a clear demonstration that the watered haul roads (as required by the LRAPA ACDP) from the extraction site to the rock crusher do not produce significant amounts of dust. Finally, we note that the applicant has testified that its request is merely to add the expansion area’s additional aggregate material to its current inventory and that the processing facility (the rock crusher and associated facilities) will remain at its current LRAPA-regulated location and will not produce finished aggregate material in excess of its current LRAPA ACDP- mandated levels. The location of the processing facility and its production level is strictly regulated by the ACDP. The applicant has testified that the location of that facility and its production levels will not change as a result of approval of this application. Therefore, the entire Delta site, and all activities thereon, will continue to be regulated by the ACDP. By law, Delta’s Page 16 – FINDINGS OF FACT