Casper gravel pit opponents sue state for lack of public notice

Wyoming's top five elected officials violated the state constitution when they approved gravel mine exploration adjacent to residents, plaintiffs say.

Wyoming's top five elected officials violated the state constitution when they approved without notice a set of gravel mine exploration leases on state lands adjacent to residents at the base of Casper Mountain, opponents of the development allege in a lawsuit filed Friday in Natrona County District Court.

Plaintiffs, including the Casper Mountain Preservation Alliance, are asking the court to invalidate eight leases approved last year by the Wyoming Board of Land Commissioners, which includes Gov. Mark Gordon, Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder, Secretary of State Chuck Gray, Treasurer Curt Meier and Auditor Kristi Racines.

"Leases were entered into by the Board without first providing reasonable and meaningful notice or opportunity to be heard by Plaintiffs or anyone else in the general public," the complaint states.

The board unanimously approved the leases on a consent agenda without discussion, commissioners admitted in public meetings earlier this year.

"In fact, not even former Casper residents, Secretary Chuck Gray and Superintendent Megan Deganfelder [sic], realized the location of the leases," plaintiffs allege in the filing.

During an April 4 hearing of the board - amid public blowback throughout Natrona County - board members directed staff to review whether the state could negotiate with the lessee, Casper-based Prism Logistics, to voluntarily relinquish the leases. No such negotiations have taken place, according to Prism Manager Kyle True.

Plaintiffs also include Natrona County residents Carolyn Griffith, Michael Fernald, Todd and Elizabeth Romsa, Walter Merschat, Jamie Bilek and Pat Sullivan.

Swift opposition

In February, a nearby resident was shocked to see a backhoe digging on a section of "school trust" land in the Coates Road area just west of Casper, and he began to make inquiries. After learning that officials had granted exploration leases to Prism - covering more than 3,000 acres of state "school trust" lands - neighbors formed an opposition group, the Casper Mountain Preservation Alliance. The group has collected more than 18,000 signatures throughout the county imploring both local and state leaders to block the proposed operation.

In addition to impacts from industrial truck traffic, noise and degraded air quality, mining threatens to interfere with groundwater where hundreds of nearby households depend on shallow wells for domestic water, residents say.

"For decades, the area has been zoned to control housing densities due to the fragile, relatively shallow water source," the alliance stated in a press release. "It was unfathomable to many living in the area that a gravel mining operation that could dig dozens of feet deep and easily penetrate the Cody Shale layer risking water supplies would be considered an acceptable activity for the area."

Prism officials acknowledge the company did not reach out to nearby residents before acquiring the leases and digging test holes, but say they were not required to do so. True, however, has hosted several public meetings since, attempting to quell concerns. He offered several voluntary measures to minimize potential impacts to neighbors, such as daytime-only operations, moving rock-crushing operations to another location and potentially paying for an alternative water source if domestic wells are impacted.

But opposition remains. Natrona County commissioners in September voted to eliminate commercial mining in Mountain Residential 1 areas, including on the cluster of "school trust" properties where Prism Logistics proposes to mine gravel.

Prism responded by filing suit against the commission in October, claiming the county is improperly blocking mining development by exerting authority it doesn't have over state lands.

The broader question of whether counties can impose limitations, zoning or health and safety codes on state land lessees is now before the Wyoming Supreme Court.

WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.

This story was posted on November 25, 2024.

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Editors: Below is information that WyoFile.com used in a pull-out. 90 words.

What are state trust lands?

Upon granting statehood in 1890, the federal government bestowed some 4.2 million acres of "state trust lands" to Wyoming, which currently manages about 3.4 million acres of trust land. The Wyoming Constitution prescribes that the primary use of those lands, which are scattered throughout the state in a checkerboard pattern, is to generate revenue to support public schools.

The Office of State Lands and Investments commonly leases those lands - often referred to as "school sections" - for grazing and industrial development such as mining and oil and gas drilling.