In the aftermath of a “landmark” decision that struck down a proposed Cemex mine in Soledad Canyon earlier this year, the company has filed a lawsuit against several federal agencies, officials said Friday.

The lawsuit was filed in May against the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for allegedly “unlawfully” depriving Cemex of its contracted rights to establish a sand and gravel mine in Soledad Canyon.

According to City Councilmember Cameron Smyth, this move by Cemex is not something that took the City of Santa Clarita by surprise.

“This issue has been going on for over two decades,” said Smyth. “I don’t think it should come as a surprise to anyone that Cemex decided to continue with litigation and continuing to overturn the ruling.”

In 1990, the BLM awarded two consecutive contracts to Cemex to extract roughly 56 million tons of sand and gravel in Soledad Canyon, according to officials.

The proposition was immediately opposed by City officials, who stated that the extensive mining proposed for the site would have far-reaching negative effects over the entire Santa Clarita Valley, including air pollution and increased traffic.

From 1999 to 2006, the City and Cemex engaged in “an aggressive legal and public relations battle,” and Santa Clarita officials reportedly spent more than $7 million fighting the mine before a truce was reached in 2008.

In March 2015, the BLM canceled Cemex’s contracts, forcing the company to appeal to the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA).

Related: City Officials React To ‘Landmark’ Decision Regarding Cemex Mega Mine

On March 20, 2019, IBLA handed down their decision, concluding that although they reversed the decision to cancel the 10-year contracts, the contracts had been triggered in August 2000, and thus the first contract had expired in 2010.

However, the IBLA also noted that in the intervening decades, the BLM had acted as though the contracts had not been triggered in 2000.

Cemex filed the lawsuit in May 2019 in response to this decision.

The lawsuit states that the IBLA decision was “arbitrary and capricious, and violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), agency regulations and the Constitution.”

The APA prohibits federal agencies from taking actions that are “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with law,” “without observance of procedure required by law,” or otherwise “in excess of statutory jurisdiction, authority, or limitations, or short of statutory right.”

According to the suit, from 2000 through 2007, Cemex, the BLM and the IBLA worked jointly to advance the mining project despite opposition, with the understanding that there would be 20 years of mining operations after all needed permits were secured.

Cemex reportedly sought written confirmation from the BLM that the efforts being taken to prepare for the mining project would not trigger the lifetime of the contracts. The state director reportedly sent back a letter in April of 2006, confirming that simply seeking permits and other “pre-mining” activities would not trigger the contracts, according to officials.

In the meantime, the City of Santa Clarita continued their opposition to the project.

As a result, Cemex and the City entered into a five-year “truce” agreement in 2007, in which the parties agreed that Cemex would temporarily stop pursuing project entitlements and authorizations and they would together explore possible alternative solutions.

Nonetheless, the IBLA declared that as the contracts only related to the approval of the mining plan, and not the mining production itself, that the lifetime of the contracts had indeed been triggered. Additionally, they also reversed the previous decision to cancel the contracts.

“I’m not by any means surprised it has been filed as a challenge to the IBLA, obviously I am hoping that the IBLA prevails. This is such an important issue, not just for the City of Santa Clarita, but for the Santa Clarita Valley,” said Councilmember Bob Kellar.

Although this meant that the first contract was still expired, this presented the issue that Cemex was then required to pay any outstanding fees that would apply to both contracts. This included lieu of production fees, as during the time period that the mine would have been active, it would have had to submit proof of production or payment instead of production.

According to the lawsuit, IBLA claimed that Cemex had accrued more than $17 million in payments in lieu of production since 2000.

Cemex responded that they should not have to make these payments, as the mine was not operational due to the fact that any production would have been deemed unlawful and unapproved by the BLM.

Among other demands, Cemex requests that the courts declare the IBLA and BLM decisions as unlawful, and reestablish the validity of the contracts. Time will tell if the courts agree.

Related: Santa Clarita Mayor Marsha McLean Talks Transportation, Environmental Issues

Mayor Marsha McLean stated that this new lawsuit was not an issue that would affect the City at this point in time.

“This is between BLM and Cemex,” McLean said. “It just prolongs the whole thing.”

Although the move does not currently involve the City of Santa Clarita, Smyth cautioned that officials should still stay alert to protect the city from the possibility of a Cemex success.

“To me, it is still full steam ahead in terms of working with our lobbyists, our congressional delegation, and keeping up the pressure and staying vigilant until the final ruling is complete and Cemex has exhausted all of its resources,” said Smyth. “Then, and only then, will I feel comfortable in celebrating the end of this issue.”

Ed. Note: Devon Miller contributed to this article.

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