Glenwood Springs protesting Limestone Mine set to expand
GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. (KREX) — The seventeen-acre Mid-Continent Mine in Glenwood Springs extracts limestone for construction, runways and concrete.
Glenwood Springs Mayor Ingrid Wussow tells WesternSlopeNow the city, and the citizens worry the quarry may expand.
Mid-Continent Mine announced plans to increase its original 17-acre lot 26 times to 450 acres In 2017.
A plan that screeched to a halt after several organizations and governments, including BLM and Garfield County, decided to measure the impact the expansion would have on the environment and on Glenwood Springs.
Wussow fears the expansion could crowd roadways with construction trucks, or even impact the temperature of Glenwood’s famous hot springs.
She tells WesternSlopeNow protests built across Glenwood when the mine announced its expansion, but those protests died down. She further says she thinks there is some confusion about whether it has been resolved, and it has not been resolved.
Rocky Mountain Industrials first pushed back against the mine in 2018. Glenwood Springs assistant attorney Richard Peterson-Cremer says there’s been a bit of a reprieve. The quality of the limestone is key to whether the mine expands.
FAA regulated airport runways require higher quality limestone than concrete or general construction.
Wussow tells WesternSlopeNow the quality and what they’re actually using it for doesn’t pertain to or justify the expansion. The 1872 mining law mainly pertains to precious metals like gold, platinum and silver, but the mine claims the limestone is high enough quality to consider it under this law.
Update: A Glenwood Public Information Officer contacted WesternSlopeNow to clarify that the integrity of Hanging Lake will not be affected by the possible expansion of the Mid-Continent Mine.
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