{"id":1315218,"date":"2019-10-02T17:33:23","date_gmt":"2019-10-02T23:33:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=988527"},"modified":"2019-10-03T08:18:42","modified_gmt":"2019-10-03T14:18:42","slug":"in-jurisdictional-duel-federal-judge-favors-garfield-county-over-rmr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/in-jurisdictional-duel-federal-judge-favors-garfield-county-over-rmr\/","title":{"rendered":"In jurisdictional duel, federal judge favors Garfield County over RMR"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/p>

The Rocky Mountain Resources limestone quarry at the base of Transfer Trail north of Glenwood Springs.<\/strong>
Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

A federal judge in Grand Junction recommended halting RMR Industrial\u2019s federal lawsuit against Garfield County while the state court case proceeds.<\/p>\n

U.S. Magistrate Judge Gordon Gallagher entered his order recommending the stay in the federal case Tuesday, signaling an end to the \u201cdueling motions to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

RMR, owner of the quarry north of Glenwood Springs, filed two lawsuits<\/a>, one in state court and one in federal court, arguing that Garfield County commissioners acted arbitrarily and capriciously in issuing a notice of violations.<\/p>\n

After filing the state lawsuit May 17, RMR filed the federal lawsuit May 21, and later urged the state court to stay the case. Garfield County, however, wants the case heard in state court, and asked the federal court to dismiss or stay the case.<\/p>\n

Gallagher\u2019s recommendation would pause the federal case in favor of letting the Colorado Ninth District Court in Glenwood Springs to hear the parallel case.<\/p>\n

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The state court \u201cis an adequate forum\u201d to address claims, and the state court also \u201chas jurisdiction to address federal law issues,\u201d Gallagher wrote in the order.<\/p>\n

Several municipalities, including Glenwood Spring, Rifle and Carbondale, expressed concern in recent weeks that RMR\u2019s lawsuit, if successful, would erode the county\u2019s regulatory authority.<\/p>\n

RMR argued it is not an issue of state importance, since it only involved the county.<\/p>\n

Gallagher called that reasoning \u201cmisguided,\u201d and noted that a county\u2019s regulatory authority is of great importance to Colorado communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe state interests involved here are no small matter. Colorado and its discreet counties have developed systems for the granting and denial of mining permits. These systems ensure viability and conservation of the state\u2019s natural resources,\u201d Gallagher wrote.<\/p>\n

Gallagher did not recommend dismissing the federal case completely, leaving RMR the option to pursue damages, court costs and fees in the future.<\/p>\n

The Glenwood Springs Citizens\u2019 Alliance, which formed to oppose RMR\u2019s quarry expansion proposal currently under review by the Bureau of Land Management, praised Gallagher\u2019s recommendation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is exactly what we were hoping for at this time,\u201d Citizens\u2019 Alliance volunteer Heather McGregor said. \u201cWe see the state court as the best forum for the county\u2019s points to be heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

RMR and Garfield County have 14 days to file any written objections to Gallagher\u2019s order.<\/p>\n

In the state case, Judge Anne Norrdin is considering RMR\u2019s motion to stay its own lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Both parties have accused the other of \u201cforum shopping,\u201d and in a recent filing, lawyers for the county said RMR \u201cis not entitled to use the state court as a precautionary backup option should it fail in federal court.\u201d<\/p>\n

tphippen@postindependent.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The Rocky Mountain Resources limestone quarry at the base of Transfer Trail north of Glenwood Springs.Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent A federal judge in Grand Junction recommended halting RMR Industrial\u2019s federal lawsuit against Garfield County while the state court case proceeds. U.S. Magistrate Judge Gordon Gallagher entered his order recommending the stay in the federal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1315218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-06 21:20:48","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":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1315218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1315218"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1315218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1315243,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1315218\/revisions\/1315243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1315218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1315218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1315218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}