Baykeeper Sues To Limit Alleged Mining Threat To Bay’s Sandy Floor

Environmental advocates say the San Francisco Bay’s sandy floor, the habitat for fish and wildlife, is under threat from mining leases based on flawed data.
San Francisco Baykeeper filed a lawsuit Thursday against the California State Lands Commission for authorizing 10-year leases that allow Martin Marietta Marine Operations LLC and Lind Marine LLC to harvest the Bay’s sand for concrete and asphalt.

Baykeeper contends the commission relied on inaccurate information to measure the impact of the leases on the sand it argues is ancient and irreplaceable. A spokesman for the commission could not be reached after regular business hours on Saturday.

“The agency relied on faulty baseline data to claim that the total volume of sand mined would decrease under the new leases–when the opposite is in fact true: the leases approve the taking of more sand out of the Bay,” Baykeeper said in a press release.

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Source: SF Gate