Demolition has started at the Permanente Cement Plant near Cupertino, a massive manufacturing site that\u00a0repeatedly ran afoul of environmental regulations\u00a0before it\u00a0officially closed\u00a0three years ago.<\/p>\n
Heidelberg Materials North America, a multinational corporation that owns the cement plant, recently announced that it secured the necessary permits and a contractor to move forward with demolition. The plan is to remove approximately 40 structures on a 123-acre site, according to a news release.<\/p>\n
The impacted area represents only a sliver of a larger 3,500-acre site that includes Permanente Quarry, also owned by Heidelberg Materials. The vast majority of the land spans the foothills of unincorporated Santa Clara County and includes portions of Palo Alto and Cupertino.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince we formally announced the permanent closure of the cement kiln in 2022, we have prioritized listening to residents, businesses and other local stakeholders so we could gather input and feedback on how the site could provide value to the community in the long-term,\u201d Heidelberg Materials executive David Perkins said in the release. \u201cThe commencement of demolition marks a significant step forward in this process.\u201d<\/p>\n
Purchased by Henry J. Kaiser in 1939, the quarry and cement plant contributed to building major projects in Northern California, including landmarks such as the Shasta Dam and Golden Gate Bridge.<\/p>\n
However, the plant and quarry have taken a toll on the surrounding environment<\/a> and community. In the past 15 years, there have been multiple lawsuits filed against the quarry for discharging toxic metals and violating water, air and noise pollution standards.<\/p>\n The Sierra Club was the first to file a lawsuit in 2011, alleging the quarry was\u00a0illegally dumping toxic metals<\/a>\u00a0into Permanente Creek, which runs through Mountain View and empties into San Francisco Bay. Lawsuits from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state of California followed in 2015.<\/p>\n Santa Clara County also found a variety of violations at the cement plant<\/a> and issued more than 2,000 citations from 2012 to 2021. As the violations mounted, so did community opposition.<\/p>\n In 2021, a\u00a0proposal to \u201cchop the top\u201d off<\/a> Permanente Ridge for mining was the final straw for many people, according to Joe Simitian, who sat on the county Board of Supervisors from 1996-2000 and 2013-2025.<\/p>\n \u201c(It) would have eliminated something like 20 acres of undisturbed space,\u201d Simitian said. \u201cWe had both the Teamsters and the Sierra Club standing side by side, which was not something that I typically saw in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2020, the plant\u2019s operations were paused due to the pandemic before permanently closing in 2023<\/a> amid continued county pressure. Excavation at the quarry was also halted that same year. In an effort to rehabilitate the area, county officials broke ground on the\u00a0Permanente Creek Restoration Project<\/a>\u00a0last summer to remove toxic mine waste and restore miles of watershed in Cupertino.<\/p>\n \u201cThe community is very excited about moving forward with the demolition, the reclamation and restoration of the land there,\u201d Supervisor Margaret Abe-Koga said. \u201cHeidelberg has been very, very communicative and collaborative with the community, letting us know what they\u2019re doing and taking a lot of input.\u201d<\/p>\n The plan to restore the entire 3,500-acre area to its natural habitat will not happen anytime soon, however. The process is expected to take\u00a040 years to complete<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt took us more than 100 years to get to this point,\u201d Simitian said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to take a little while to restore and reclaim the site. That\u2019s the hard truth.\u201d<\/p>\n