Glenwood Springs Citizens' Alliance v. U.S. Bureau of Land Management
2020 case over BLM enforcement of mining permit regulations
The Glenwood Springs Citizens’ Alliance charges the U.S. Bureau of Land Management with failing to properly regulate mining activity at the Rocky Mountain Industrials’ limestone quarry.
CASE DISMISSED
On Jan. 14, 2025, Federal District Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney approved a proposed Order filed by the Glenwood Springs Citizens’ Alliance to dismiss its lawsuit against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
The federal court action came shortly after the U.S. Department of Interior issued a formal decision on Jan. 3, 2025. It halted mining of all “common variety” limestone at the quarry and ordered Rocky Mountain Industrials to pay BLM the fair market value for all such rock sold from the quarry since 2019.
Judge Sweeney’s order dismissing the case confirms 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.”
Background
The Rocky Mountain Industrials limestone quarry operates on federally owned public land, under a mining permit issued by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
In 2018, Glenwood Springs Citizens’ Alliance members observed certain mining activities at the quarry that are not allowed under RMI’s federal mining permit.
The Citizens’ Alliance first raised these issues in a formal letter to BLM in October 2018. The letter asked BLM to investigate suspected permit violations and, if violations were found, to begin enforcement actions or suspend non-compliant mining operations.
From a series of Freedom of Information Act requests to BLM in 2019, the Citizens’ Alliance obtained documents showing that RMI had been mining and selling large quantities of “common variety” limestone without the required BLM mining permit or BLM sales contract.
The Citizens’ Alliance submitted another letter to BLM in February 2020, detailing BLM’s failure to properly regulate RMI’s mining activities. BLM issued a short response, reiterating its decision to allow RMI’s current operations to continue unabated.
In March 2020, the Citizens’ Alliance filed suit against BLM, charging the agency with failing to properly regulate mining activity at the RMI limestone quarry.
The Citizens’ Alliance suit is focused on BLM regulation of RMI’s past and current mining operations. It does not address RMI’s controversial proposal for a massive expansion of the limestone quarry.
Attorneys Roger Flynn and Jeffrey C. Parsons with the Western Mining Action Project of Lyons, a non-profit public interest law firm specializing in mining issues in the West, filed the suit on behalf of the Citizens’ Alliance. The firm is working on a pro bono basis.
“BLM has allowed RMI to extract tons of common variety limestone from our public lands, at the public’s expense, for more than three years. BLM has bent its own longstanding rules in allowing this, favoring the profit-making needs of a single company over the broader public interest. BLM is violating the law, and it needs to be stopped.” -- Jeff Peterson, Board President, Glenwood Springs Citizens’ Alliance
Timeline
March 10, 2020: GSCA files a lawsuit against BLM in U.S. District Court, contending that BLM has illegally authorized continued mining of common variety minerals.
March 12, 2020: U.S. Department of Justice, representing BLM, files motion to dismiss the case.
May 22, 2020: Garfield County Commissioners file motion to intervene on the side of GSCA. Motion approved on Nov. 2, 2020.
March 24, 2021: GSCA and Garfield County file a request to BLM for various information regarding quarry operations, focused on non-compliance issues.
April 23, 2021: U.S. Department of Justice replies for BLM by objecting to nearly all the requests for information.
July 27, 2021: U.S. District Judge Christine Arguello denies Department of Justice motion to dismiss, but without prejudice, meaning it can be re-filed.
August 31, 2021: Department of Justice re-files motion to dismiss. Briefs arguing for and against dismissal filed in September and October, 2021, by parties in the case.
August 1, 2022: Case reassigned to U.S. District Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney, in light of Judge Arguello’s moving to senior status on the bench.
October 3, 2022: Judge Sweeney calls for oral arguments from both sides on BLM’s re-filed motion to dismiss.
October 26, 2022: GSCA, Garfield County and the U.S. Department of Justice, representing BLM, make oral arguments before Judge Sweeney on BLM’s re-filed motion to dismiss.
November 8, 2022: U.S. District Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney issues a split ruling. In one part, she dismissed GSCA and Garfield County’s claim that the escrow account represents a “final agency action” and is thus subject to challenge. In the other part, she upheld GSCA and Garfield County’s claim that BLM has “unreasonably delayed” its work on a mineral examination of the limestone deposit.
February 8, 2023: U.S. Department of Justice provides administrative record.
March 2, 2023: GSCA and Garfield County file opening briefs on the merits of the case.
April 24, 2023: U.S. Department of Justice responds to briefs on merits.
January 25, 2024: U.S. Department of Justice provides notice of completion and publication of BLM’s Determination of Common Variety (DCV) mineral examination report.
June 5, 2024: U.S. Department of Justice files motion to dismiss case, citing completion of the DCV.
August 26, 2024: GSCA and Garfield County file joint response objecting to motion to dismiss.
January 8, 2025: U.S. Department of Justice notifies GSCA and Garfield County of U.S. Department of Interior’s Jan. 3, 2025, Decision implementing the DCV. This includes a halt to mining at the quarry and an order for Rocky Mountain Industrials to pay BLM for escrowed limestone sales.
January 14, 2025: With Interior decision in hand, GSCA files a response seeking an order to dismiss the case. Later in the day, U.S. District Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney issues an order and final judgment dismissing the case, with prejudice.
‘Valuable Mineral’ and ‘Common Variety’ limestone
Details of the suit focus on the difference between two types of limestone being mined at the quarry, and on federal laws that govern extraction of limestone from public lands.
- High-quality chemical-grade limestone is used for specific purposes, such as to suppress explosive gas in coal mines. It’s considered a “Valuable Mineral,” and is governed by the 1872 Mining Law.
- Limestone boulders and aggregate are typically used for road base, rip-rap, embankments and construction fill. It’s considered a “Common Variety” and is governed by the 1947 Materials Act and the 1955 Common Varieties Act.
Companies seeking to mine “common variety” limestone must obtain a federal permit for that purpose. They must also secure a Mineral Materials Sales Contract to pay BLM fair market value for the rock.
Under these laws, BLM can authorize a “common variety” permit only if the mining operation is not “detrimental to the public interest,” fully protects public lands resources and the environment, and minimizes damages to public health and safety.
In 1982, BLM issued a “valuable mineral” permit to Mid-Continent Resources to quarry chemical-grade limestone at the site for its coal mines near Redstone. That permit carried over to the next owner, Cal-X, in 2009, and to Rocky Mountain Industrials in 2016.
None of the mining companies sought “common variety” permits or sales contracts, which would have been required under federal law to mine and sell “common variety” limestone.
In its lawsuit, the Citizens’ Alliance contends that RMI has been mining and selling both types of limestone since it acquired the mining operation in 2016.
RMI sales receipts show that for the 15 months from October 2016 through December 2017, along with May and June of 2018, RMI produced more than 2,150 truckloads of rock. Nearly 60 percent of all sales were road base, riprap, backfill and other common variety products delivered to local contractors.
The Citizens’ Alliance recently requested that BLM release the reports for RMI’s sales from 2020 through 2022.