{"id":1319876,"date":"2020-05-11T18:13:21","date_gmt":"2020-05-12T00:13:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=996296"},"modified":"2020-05-11T18:13:21","modified_gmt":"2020-05-12T00:13:21","slug":"citys-motion-to-intervene-in-quarry-lawsuit-granted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/citys-motion-to-intervene-in-quarry-lawsuit-granted\/","title":{"rendered":"City\u2019s motion to intervene in quarry lawsuit granted"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In this March 2018 file photo, a truck leaves the Rocky Mountain Resources limestone quarry on lower Transfer Trail north of Glenwood Springs.<\/strong>
Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent file<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The city of Glenwood Springs\u2019 motion to intervene in Rocky Mountain Industrials, Inc.\u2019s (RMI) lawsuit against Garfield County has been granted.<\/p>\n

The city filed a motion to intervene in RMI\u2019s lawsuit against the county in January, which District Court Judge Anne Norrdin granted last Friday.<\/p>\n

Last May, Garfield County issued a notice of violation to RMI after it failed to comply with seasonal restrictions, among others, pursuant to the county\u2019s special use permit for the quarry.<\/p>\n

Following the notice of violation, RMI sued Garfield County in May of 2019, alleging it had no regulatory authority over operations at the Mid-Continent quarry because the federal government also regulates the site. <\/span><\/p>\n

The county has since issued a second notice of violation to RMI, in which Garfield County Community Development Director Sheryl Bower stated \u201cthis repetitive disregard of county regulations cannot continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

The open pit mine sits on federal land approximately one mile north of downtown Glenwood Springs, adjacent to the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park.<\/p>\n

In its motion to intervene, Glenwood Springs City Attorney Karl Hanlon argued that the county does in fact have concurrent regulatory authority over the mine\u2019s operations.<\/p>\n

Hanlon also argued that the city has its own regulatory and proprietary interests not adequately represented by the county. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a number of interests that we have as a community that are a little more specific and a little more nuanced than the county\u2019s,\u201d Hanlon said. <\/span><\/p>\n

In its motion to intervene, the city cited those specific interests that include: police powers and regulatory authority on the roads that provide access to the quarry; maintenance of emergency services to the quarry and beyond; protecting tourism revenues; preserving and enhancing open space as well as protecting and preserving the environment. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is good news. The city continues to gain small victories in this fight against RMI,\u201d Mayor Jonathan Godes stated in a news release. \u201cThis proposed quarry expansion is right on our doorstep and we are, and will continue to be, vigilant in our fight for the vibrancy of Glenwood Springs.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

RMI has applied to expand the existing mine site from 15.7 acres to that of 447 acres. RMI\u2019s application also anticipates up to 500 truck trips per day between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the expanded mine would operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week with blasting allowed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. <\/span><\/p>\n

Glenwood Springs has garnered support from neighboring communities including Carbondale, New Castle, Silt, Rifle and others in its fight against the mine expansion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe court granting the motion to intervene is a crucial first step,\u201d Hanlon said. \u201cBut, we have a long road ahead of us to protect the city and its citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Requests for comment from RMI were not returned Monday.<\/p>\n

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

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this March 2018 file photo, a truck leaves the Rocky Mountain Resources limestone quarry on lower Transfer Trail north of Glenwood Springs.Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent file The city of Glenwood Springs\u2019 motion to intervene in Rocky Mountain Industrials, Inc.\u2019s (RMI) lawsuit against Garfield County has been granted. The city filed a motion to […]<\/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":{"0":"post-1319876","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-04 15:26:03","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\/1319876","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=1319876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319876\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1319876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1319876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1319876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}