The Rocky Mountain Industrials shuttered limestone quarry near Glenwood Springs, seen on Jan. 15, 2025. Mining at the quarry was halted on Jan. 3, 2025, with a formal decision issued by the U.S. Department of Interior. Photo by Ginny Minch

Court order dismisses 2020 lawsuit while affirming GSCA and Garfield County’s fundamental argument

In swift action on Tuesday, Jan. 14, Federal District Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney approved a proposed Order filed earlier that day by the Glenwood Springs Citizens’ Alliance to dismiss its lawsuit against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

The lawsuit, filed in March 2020, contended that BLM was allowing Rocky Mountain Industrials (RMI) to mine and sell “common variety” limestone from its Glenwood Springs limestone quarry, for end uses such as road base, riprap, rock dust and aggregate, which violated the terms of the mining company’s federal permit. The Garfield County Board of County Commissioners had joined the case to support the Alliance’s arguments.

After nearly five years of legal back-and-forth, while mining continued, the U.S. Department of Interior issued a decision to RMI on Jan. 3, 2025. It halted mining of all “common variety” limestone at the quarry and ordered RMI to pay BLM the fair market value for all such rock sold from the quarry since 2019.

“Interior’s decision affirmed the fundamental argument we and Garfield County have been making in federal court: that RMI has been mining and selling limestone from our public lands for end uses that aren’t allowed under its federal mining permit,” said Jeff Peterson, president of the Citizens’ Alliance.

Judge Sweeney’s order dismissing the case upholds the key element of Interior’s decision, noting that it “prohibits mining of ‘common variety’ minerals at the mine, absent compliance with federal statutes and permitting regulations governing such minerals.”

Her order also casts the Interior decision in stone, calling it “a final and non-reversible agency action and legal determination binding on the Interior Department and Rocky Mountain Industrials.”

It continues, “Therefore, this court finds that Interior’s Jan. 3, 2025, decision resolves GSCA’s claims and is a final agency action satisfying the finality requirements for dismissal of this case.”

 

Order Dismissing Case 2020 CV 658 by Federal District Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney