Tribe, environmentalists oppose mining project in Santa Clara County
The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band is calling on Santa Clara County to stop a project they say will destroy hundreds of acres of sacred land. A private company wants to build a sand and gravel mining plant there and will need the county’s approval to do it. It’s not just the tribe that’s against this project. The tribe has the support of San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, the ACLU and environmental groups like Green Foothills. They all say the risks far outweigh the benefits and once the damage is done, there’s no turning back. … [E]nvironmentalists also say digging pits hundreds of feet into the soil will have devastating effects on the groundwater table and interrupt the migration patterns of animals that live there.