Mexico’s Cemex said on Monday it would start operations soon at a quarry in Los Angeles County after a US appeals court moved to allow the project to proceed. The US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed on Friday a lower court’s approval of a consent decree between Cemex and Los Angeles County that would allow the company to operate the planned Soledad Canyon quarry in exchange for environmental concessions.  
 
According to Cemex, the proposed Soledad Canyon quarry’s aggregate gravel and stone would be used in cement products in Los Angeles County and would produce an estimated 56.1Mt of product over the next 20 years.  The quarry had been the subject of state environmental reviews for more than a decade before the company and county agreed to a consent decree to settle their differences over the site.  
 
 "This is the strongest judicial affirmation yet of our plans to develop this site. We look forward to beginning production in the near future," said Gilberto Perez, president of Cemex USA.