CASPER, Wyo. -- The company that wants to mine gravel on state land at the base of Casper Mountain doubts Natrona County has the legal right to block activity on land belonging to the state.
On Sept. 17, the Natrona County Commission voted to amend a zoning rule to effectively block Prism Logistics' attempt to build a gravel pit in the Squaw Creek and Coates Road area at the base of Casper mountain.
Thursday, Prism Logistics LLC struck back.
It sued the commission, asking for a judicial review about the legality of that decision. Prism Logistics' attorney, Deborah Roden of Cheyenne, filed the petition in Natrona County District Court.
"Generally speaking, Petitioner argues that any proposed application of this rule to State lands is contrary to Wyoming Constitutional law, applicable statutory law giving that authority to the Office of State Lands and its promulgation of administrative rules."
The lawsuit is the latest in a saga that started in February, when Coates Road resident Gregg Werger saw earthmoving equipment digging holes on state land next to his house and called the Natrona County Sheriff's Office. A deputy came out and told him that Kyle True's Prism Logistics LLC had filed notices for limited mining operations.
That night, True visited Werger and told him of his interest in mining gravel, to which Weger responded, "I'm your resistance."
That resistance spread through the spring and into the summer with the creation of the Casper Mountain Preservation Alliance and meetings with the county commissioners. Residents shared concerns of environmental impacts, water and air quality, dust, effects on property values, the viewshed, damage to Coates Road and other issues.
Opponents of the mine noted the county's criteria for approving a conditional use permit for mining. They also circulated petitions throughout Natrona County, gathering about 18,000 signatures from people against the proposed gravel pit.
True defended his proposal, saying central Wyoming needs gravel for construction and opponents' concerns, such as the effects on water and the environment, could be mitigated.
All that came to a head at the commission meeting on Sept. 17, when Werger proposed an amendment to the county's zoning regulations that would remove the ability to apply for or obtain a conditional-use permit for extractive industries in Mountain Residential-1 zoning districts. The commission approved it unanimously.
However, that didn't end the controversy, and now it's a legal matter.
Prism Logistics wants the Natrona County District Court to determine whether the commission can do what it did: "Put more simply, can Natrona County dictate how the State of Wyoming, and its lessees, utilize State-owned land?"