Glenwood Springs Bill Blocks Quarry Expansion to Protect Hot Springs

Glenwood Springs —The Glenwood Hot Springs Protection Act lands in Washington this week, a legislative shield designed to stop the federal agency from approving an expansion of the Mid-Continent Limestone Quarry just above Glenwood Springs. Proposed by U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, a Republican, and Democratic U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, the bill arrives shortly after officials determined that Rocky Mountain Industrials’ proposal to triple the size of its operation could move forward.

The stakes are measured in acres and trucks. Rocky Mountain Industrials, the politically connected investment firm founded in 2014 by Chad Brownstein and owned by his father, Norm Brownstein, chairman of Denver’s Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck law and lobbying firm, wants to grow the quarry from 16 acres to nearly 60. The company paid $2.8 million for the original 16-acre site in 2016 and first proposed the expansion to more than 56 acres in 2018. If approved, the number of trucks carrying gravel through town would jump from 20 to around 400, a shift that locals fear could disrupt the region’s robust tourist economy and threaten the historic hot springs resort, one of Colorado’s earliest tourist attractions.

Hurd, who represents Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District and grew up in Grand Junction, argued during a press call on Thursday that the legislation is straightforward. “I am pro-mining. I am pro-energy. I am pro-resource development,” Hurd said, noting that responsible resource development requires recognizing when a location is not the right fit for a project. He called the bill “pro-common sense and pro-local control,” emphasizing that when there is broad local consensus, Congress ought to listen. “Local communities deserve a seat at the table,” he said.

The opposition to Rocky Mountain Industrials’ plan has been unified and expensive. A publicly funded $1.2 million public affairs campaign has accompanied several lawsuits filed by the town of Glenwood Springs and Garfield County. The project’s history includes permit issues, a rockslide that closed operations, and a Bureau of Land Management review stretching across three federal administrations.

For the residents watching their property values and commute times, the question is no longer whether mining matters, but whether this specific mine above Glenwood Springs is worth risking the hot springs and the local economy for materials that can be sourced elsewhere. The bill seeks to give Congress the power to block the agency’s approval, effectively halting the expansion if the legislative shield holds.

The air above Transfer Trail still carries the low rumble of heavy machinery, a sound that has become as familiar to Glenwood Springs locals as the morning mist rising from the springs themselves.