{"id":15218,"date":"2019-05-16T19:45:01","date_gmt":"2019-05-17T01:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=978348"},"modified":"2019-05-17T07:57:15","modified_gmt":"2019-05-17T13:57:15","slug":"lack-of-response-from-blm-regarding-quarrys-alleged-violations-prompts-letter-glenwood-reps-visit-to-washington-d-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/local-news\/lack-of-response-from-blm-regarding-quarrys-alleged-violations-prompts-letter-glenwood-reps-visit-to-washington-d-c\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Lack of response\u2019 from BLM regarding quarry\u2019s alleged violations prompts letter, Glenwood reps\u2019 visit to Washington, D.C."},"content":{"rendered":"
The Rocky Mountain Resources limestone quarry at the base of Transfer Trail north of Glenwood Springs.<\/strong>
Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A recent letter from the city of Glenwood Springs to officials in the nation\u2019s capital \u2014 followed by a personal visit \u2014 concerning Rocky Mountain Resources\u2019 operations at the Transfer Trail limestone quarry does not mince words.<\/p>\n

The two-page letter sent to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in addition to Sens. Cory Gardner, Michael Bennet and Rep. Scott Tipton, was a result of \u201cthe lack of response by the BLM.\u201d<\/p>\n

It makes four requests of the agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior \u2014 now headed by Rifle native David Bernhardt<\/a>, a former attorney and lobbyist with the law firm now representing RMR.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the letter asks that the BLM not allow RMR to \u201cbully its way to an exponential expansion at its Glenwood Springs Mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA delegation from Glenwood Springs traveled to Washington DC to meet with Senator Gardner, Representative Tipton and Senator Bennet\u2019s senior staff to discuss the city\u2019s concerns about the existing permit violations at Rocky Mountain Resources mine and future expansion plans,\u201d City Manager Debra Figueroa said this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe meetings were productive, and our federal elected officials all expressed concerns and support for our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2016, RMR purchased the Mid-Continent limestone quarry on the federally leased land near the base of Transfer Trail north of Glenwood Springs.<\/p>\n

RMR, which has offices in Los Angeles and Denver, has its eyes set on a major expansion to the mine. That expansion seeks \u201cto expand mining operations by 5,000 [percent], to allow mining 12 hours per day, blasting from [9 a.m. to 4 p.m.] and hauling out as many as 500 trucks per day for 20 years,\u201d according to the city\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n

ZERO RESPONSE<\/h4>\n

The document stated that RMR was \u201coperating illegally\u201d and \u201cin violation of its current BLM Plan of Operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Western Mining Action Project and its counsel, on behalf of the Glenwood Springs Citizens\u2019 Alliance (GSCA), already detailed those issues in an Oct. 11, 2018 letter sent to the BLM\u2019s Colorado State, Northwest Field and Colorado River Valley Field Offices.<\/p>\n

However, the GSCA, which has over 1,000 petition signers and hundreds of volunteers, has yet to receive any acknowledgment from any of those BLM offices regarding that October letter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe appreciate the input from local governments and from the local community,\u201d BLM Colorado State Office Director of Communications Steven Hall said Thursday. \u201cWe have committed to having this be an open and transparent process. that is what we have done thus far, and that is what we will certainly do going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hall confirmed that the BLM Colorado State office had received the October letter; a letter adopted by the city and one that raised several issues against RMR.<\/p>\n

First, it stated that RMR was \u201cextracting and selling common variety limestone\u201d for road base, boulders, riprap and other construction materials instead of \u201cchemical grade limestone dust as a locatable mineral,\u201d as outlined in its permits.<\/p>\n

It also alleged that RMR was not paying federal royalties on those rock sales.<\/p>\n

Second, the letter pointed out that the company was operating on 20.8 acres instead of the 15.7 acres authorized by its BLM plan of operations.<\/p>\n

Third, it detailed that RMR had \u201cundertaken unauthorized exploratory drilling\u201d in December 2016.<\/p>\n

When pressed as to why the BLM did not respond to the letter, Hall said it was because it was processed more as a comment document.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the determination that was made at the time. That it was more of a comment letter, or a statement letter, than necessarily a letter that was asking BLM to answer questions,\u201d Hall explained. \u201cWe appreciate the input but we did not respond to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garfield County commissioners have also asked RMR to rectify many of the same issues by June 1<\/a>, as there have also been violations regarding the county permit for the mine.<\/p>\n

FOUR NEW REQUESTS
<\/h4>\n

The latest letter, dated May 7 and signed by Mayor Jonathan Godes and former mayor and current GSCA member Michael Gamba, had four requests of the BLM.<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cImmediately suspend acceptance or processing of a revised plan of operations until current operating permit violations are corrected;\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 That the \u201cBLM\u2019s Colorado River Valley Field Office hold a public hearing regarding these current non-compliance issues, and potential human health environmental and community impacts from a proposed expansion;\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cRequire a NEPA Environmental Impact Statement process, including a Cultural Resources Survey on potential impacts on the Ute People, to determine the significant impacts on human health, the environment and the community that could result from the proposed mining expansion;<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cConduct a full Validation Determination process with robust public participation, on whether the current mine is, and the proposed expanded mining operations would be, for the purpose of extraction of locatable minerals, or only common variety minerals.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s letter also stated that it was requesting BLM assistance to stop RMR from continuing to operate outside of its lawful plan of operations.<\/p>\n

mabennett@postindependent.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Rocky Mountain Resources limestone quarry at the base of Transfer Trail north of Glenwood Springs.Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent A recent letter from the city of Glenwood Springs to officials in the nation\u2019s capital \u2014 followed by a personal visit \u2014 concerning Rocky Mountain Resources\u2019 operations at the Transfer Trail limestone quarry does not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15219,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15218","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-11 20:29:21","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KRKY Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15218"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15227,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15218\/revisions\/15227"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}