Demolition begins at controversial Santa Clara County cement plant

Demolition has started at the Permanente Cement Plant near Cupertino, a massive manufacturing site that repeatedly ran afoul of environmental regulations before it officially closed three years ago. 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. 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…