The Glenwood Springs Citizens’ Alliance (GSCA) is continuing its efforts to educate and inform our community about the concerns we have with the potential Transfer Trail Mine expansion on public lands above the City of Glenwood Springs.

As part of our efforts, we submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on June 12, 2018, to the BLM requesting all documentation and permits associated with the quarry.  By law, BLM has 20 working days to respond to the request, yet BLM has so far failed to provide a single document.

On Oct. 11, 2018, the Citizens’ Alliance submitted a formal, 48-page letter to the BLM outlining several apparent violations of RMR’s existing permit. We are requesting that the BLM immediately investigate and enforce the provisions of the existing mining permit and federal law.

The letter references several BLM inspection reports and RMR documents that question:

• Whether RMR is selling rock and other common minerals not authorized by BLM approvals dating back to the 1980s, which were limited to the mining of chemical grade limestone.
• Whether RMR operations have exceeded the permit boundary.
• Whether RMR is conducting unauthorized drilling.

To date, BLM seems to have taken no significant action against the company to protect the public interest.

RMR’s proposed drastic expansion of the mine above Glenwood Springs has significant potential negative impacts to our community.

Our concerns are furthered by the BLM’s apparent lack of regulatory oversight by BLM, despite the mounting evidence.