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Bracker, County Engineers to Discuss Permitting for South32’s Road at Patagonia Event
Santa Cruz County Supervisor Bruce Bracker will host an open house meeting next Wednesday, Sept. 27 in Patagonia regarding permitting for the controversial “Cross Creek Connector” (CCC). The CCC is a road currently being constructed by South32 across private property just north of the town.
The Sept. 27 event will run from 5-7 pm at Cady Hall (346 Duquesne Ave). As the format of the event is an “open house,” members of the community may drop in anytime.
Bracker said in a phone interview this afternoon that in addition to permitting, the County also sets the technical standards for the CCC’s construction. He added that County engineers would be on hand at the open house to answer questions from attendees. County Manager Jesus Valdez is also scheduled to be present.
Asked if South32 representatives would be at the Sept. 27 meeting, Bracker replied, “We didn’t officially invite South32, but if I were them, I would have somebody attending.”
The CCC is a 1.2-mile, “low volume rural road” being constructed by the mining company to connect Harshaw Road (near the existing Harshaw Road Bridge No. 1) and SR 82. South32 intends to use the CCC to move construction materials to its Hermosa Project site, and to provide a temporary market route in the early years of production.
The CCC bisects 134 acres of land owned by South32. In April 2022, the county’s three supervisors voted unanimously in executive session to enter into a “cooperative agreement” with South32 to accept a donation of those 134 acres to eventually be used as an open space park.
In an April 2022 response to written questions from a group of local residents regarding the CCC and the then-proposed land transfer agreement, South32 stated that it anticipated “large deliveries and heavy trucks delivering during the construction period will use the proposed road.” Once the Hermosa project mine is in production, South32 said that it anticipated that trucks loaded with mineral concentrate, weighing less then 80,000 lbs, would use the road. The concentrate trucks will be carrying zinc, lead, and silver concentrate and what the company calls “beneficiated manganese product in solid form.”
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