The mineral rights of the San Rafael Rock Quarry have been purchased by CRH, an international group of building materials businesses based in Dublin, Ireland.

CRH bought the rights from the Dutra Group in November along with the rest of its Bay Area materials operations.

“The Dutra family still owns the land,” said Aimi Dutra, a company executive.

CRH, however, will be responsible for running the quarry and implementing its reclamation plan.

For years, residents living near the quarry complained about noise from dynamite blasts at the site; clouds of crystalline silica dust, which they asserted could cause lung damage and cancer; and heavy trucks going in and out of the property.

A truck leaves the San Rafael Rock Quarry in San Rafael in 2013. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal) 

In 2001, Marin County, the California Attorney General’s Office and the Point San Pedro Road Coalition sued Dutra alleging it was exceeding its legal entitlements and creating a public nuisance by generating harmful dust, excessive noise and traffic congestion.

In 2010, after reviewing an environmental impact report, the Marin County Board of Supervisors approved a new permit and reclamation plan for the quarry. The permit included 172 conditions such as limitations on hours of operation and truck trips.

In 2021, supervisors approved an extension of the quarry’s reclamation plan, letting the Dutra Group continue operations through 2044. Operations had been scheduled to end on Dec. 31.

“The Dutras let us know this was happening before they announced it to the general public,” said Bonnie Marmor of the Point San Pedro Road Coalition. “They gave us assurances that it wouldn’t make any difference, that they would be continuing to communicate and collaborate with us going forward.”

Marmor said there has been less activity at the quarry over recent years, and the Dutra Group has complied with the conditions of its operating permit.

“They simply haven’t been putting out as much product as when we were having so many problems with community complaints,” Marmor said. “It’s been much quieter overall.”

Compliance with the operating permit is being monitored by the Marin County Department of Public Works. Julian Kaelon, a department spokesperson, said the permit allows 250 truck trips per day in and out of the quarry.

“Based on the 2023 annual report, the peak average was 104 truck trips per day, which was the month of November,” Kaelon wrote. “That peak average is consistent with prior years too.”

Kaelon said the bond posted with the county following the sale identifies the new owner of the quarry as CPM Development Corp., doing business as Dutra Materials, a CRH company.

Dutra would not say how much CRH paid for the materials operations, which include facilities but no quarries in Petaluma and Richmond.

“That’s not information that we’re sharing publicly,” Dutra said. “We’re a private company.”

Dutra said 50 to 60 employees work for the materials operations, and they have become CRH employees. There have been no layoffs.

Bill Dutra walks past a pile of rip rap rocks used to build and repair levees at the San Rafael Rock Quarry in San Rafael, Calif. on Jan. 30, 2006. Barges are being loaded with the material, background. (Frankie Frost/Marin Independent Journal) 

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“This sale was an opportunity for us to redouble our focus on growing our core marine construction business and continue servicing our customers in the Sacramento delta and greater San Francisco Bay Area,” said Bill Dutra, the company’s executive chair.

CRH could not be reached for comment.

In a statement announcing the purchase, Scott Parson, a regional president at CRH, said, “The construction market in California is one of the largest in the United States and presents CRH with attractive opportunities for continued growth.”

Parson said CRH began doing business in California after acquiring BoDean Company Inc. and Northgate Ready Mix based in Santa Rosa in April.

CRH’s name is an abbreviation of the two Irish companies that merged in the 1970s to form it: Cement Ltd and Roadstone LTD. The company reported $34.9 billion in revenue and $3.1 billion in net income in 2023. It operates in 29 countries.

“CRH has a proven track record in value creation through acquisition which over the last decade has accounted for approximately two-thirds of the company’s growth,” its annual report said. “We achieve this by acquiring businesses at attractive valuations and creating value by integrating them with our existing operations and generating synergies.”

In 2023, CRH spent $700 million to complete 22 acquisitions. According to Zacks Equity Research, the company completed at least 35 acquisitions last year, investing some $4.6 billion. Its largest purchase last year was $2.1 billion for material assets in Texas.

A truck is loaded with rock at the San Rafael Rock Quarry in San Rafael, Calif. on Wednesday, April 5, 2000. (Frankie Frost/Marin Independent Journal)