Farmer takes on county, Granite over mining truck trips in Arvin

Oct. 29—Granite Construction Co. and Kern government have been taken to court by a family farmer in Arvin who claims the county has turned the other way while heavy trucks serving the company's nearby mining operation make problems on a road unauthorized for such use.

Potato and carrot grower Jean-Pierre Biane alleges in Kern County Superior Court that speeding trucks along Rancho Road stop him from farming his property and the traffic damages his crops and the thoroughfare itself. He says he endures physical intimidation from the truck drivers and his workers face safety risks from the hauling activity.

Court filings indicate county officials acknowledged the Watsonville-based company fell out of compliance with its 2016 conditional use permit. But Biane says the county won't force Granite to comply, such as by threatening to revoke its operating permit.

Biane has filed two related legal actions since June. He has requested an injunction to bar mine-related trucks from using the two-lane road that runs along his property on their way to or from the 543-acre Solari Sand and Gravel Project. He also sued the county so it will force Granite to ensure its mining operation impacts only the authorized route described in its county permit.

Biane accuses the county of deciding "it is more important to appease a billion dollar company than to protect the rights of its landowners and the safety of its residents," states the lawsuit filed in June by Biane and JP Biane Farms.

The company and the county did not respond to requests for comment. A court filing indicated Granite has taken the position it does not control the truckers who work for its customers, even as it allegedly raised the possibility earlier of cutting off business with trucking companies whose drivers take Rancho Road.

According to court filings, when Granite was applying for its Solari permit application in 2008, the county required it to specify an access route. The suit against the county says the company responded that the mining operation would use only Copus, Davis, Wheeler and Sebastian roads, in addition to Highway 99 and Interstate 5.

The project's ensuing environmental review did not analyze the use of Rancho Road, and instead focused on the route specified by Granite.

Granite's application estimated the project would ramp up production until its total number of trips per day along the approved route increases from 862 the first year to 1,534 trips by the 23rd year of operation. Much of the traffic was to come from trucks carrying up to 25 tons of gravel, sand and asphalt.

Biane's filings say "swarms of big rigs" now spill mining materials on the ground while emitting noxious fumes and damaging crops. He says the busy volume of trucks on the relatively narrow road puts farmworkers and his equipment at risk.

The county confirmed to him Granite was not supposed to be using Rancho Road when he first contacted staff about it, Biane's lawsuit alleges.

Text of an email printed in the lawsuit appears to show senior county permitting officials discussed putting a stop to work on the project if the company didn't apply. It stated Granite was "not in compliance."

The county spent at least six months working on signs directing truck traffic on the approved route, the suit says. In October 2022, two signs were installed along the authorized hauling route and one was posted on Granite's property. None reportedly went up along Rancho Road or any other unauthorized access roads.

Biane claims that after the signs failed to stop unauthorized use of Rancho Road, he was told by a county official that he would have to put up with the trucks.

His Sept. 15 motion for a preliminary injunction against Granite says in June 2021 he couldn't properly apply fungicide to his potato crop along Rancho Road because of truck traffic, and that he decided not to plant carrots in fall 2021 because of safety concerns with a high volume of trucks speeding along the road every day.

Exposure to ozone from the trucks, he alleges, has caused his potatoes to speckle, a problem he didn't have before Granite's operation opened, the legal motion states.

It also says truckers often yell and curse at Biane and his employees for allegedly blocking the road while performing normal farm operations.

An amendment filed in Biane's lawsuit against the county tells of an encounter he alleges was among other instances of intimidation.

On Oct. 2, it says, three mine-related trucks turning on Rancho Road pulled over after noticing Biane taking photos and video footage of them. They asked why he was doing it, and when he told them it was for his lawsuit, the filing says they became upset and started shouting and moving toward him, at which point he backed up his vehicle.

The drivers returned to their trucks and two drove off in the direction of the approved route, the filing says, but one remained on Rancho. Again the truck driver pulled over, it says, and allegedly berated Biane.

Soon a Granite-branded truck appeared, the filing says, and both trucks drove away.