About-Face: Wyoming Land Board Now Wants Out Of Controversial Gravel Pit Leases

CASPER — Wyoming’s top elected officials want to backtrack on an earlier approval of a controversial gravel pit proposal on state-owned land at the base of Casper Mountain, but aren’t sure they can.

The State Board of Land Commissioners voted Thursday during a Casper meeting to try and undo leases already granted to the gravel mine’s potential operator, but that happening could be like “putting toothpaste back in the tube,” said state Treasurer Curt Meier.

At the same time, Kyle True, manager for Prism Logistics, which has the state leases and wants to explore mining gravel on the land, was frustrated by the 180-degree turn of the land board, calling it “embarrassing.”

The board’s debate, along with hours of public comment, was the culmination of months of vocal protests by Casper locals about the impacts a gravel mine on the public-owned land could bring. About 200 people showed up, so many that another spillover room had to be set up with a video feed of the meeting.

And when the board got to the gravel mine proposal, the members appeared to understand their consent agenda approval of the leases last year is now showing unintended consequences.

Among those was a three-hour dressing down from the public with passionate pleas to reverse the approval, along with input from True and Prism Logistics that they’re doing all they can to accomplish the mining in a way that satisfies everyone.

‘Abomination’

But once the public comment began, it became apparent that wasn’t going to happen Thursday.

Local resident Jim Gunderson called the gravel mining plan a “proposed travesty” and “abomination.”

He gave the example of an old metal recycling business on Interstate 25 between Center and Beverly streets in Casper that was an “eyesore.”

“It made an impact on the impressions that visitors to Casper had and had impacts on businesses in both development and expansion,” he said.

In the same way, he said visitors to the city or those who want to relocate want recreation, good pay, historical educational opportunities for children and “curb appeal.”

A gravel mine doesn’t check many of those boxes, he said.

“The only winners allowing this pit to continue will be the avarice of Kyle True, his business associates and investors, and the handful of workers who will be employed to pillage this mountain,” Gunderson said. “Casper and Wyoming will lose out on millions of dollars because of the myopic greed of Kyle True and Prism.”

Bruce Lawson, a Casper Mountain resident and former Wyoming mining official who spent years permitting mining operations, warned the board about Prism Logistics obtaining a license that requires no baseline environmental analysis to protect homeowners from any damage from the mining operations.

“There’s not a detailed mining plan, there’s not a detailed reclamation plan, there’s not a detailed mining and reclamation schedule,” he said, adding that a small mining operation like what’s proposed would not require a detailed environmental analysis.

“So, if damage occurs as a result of Mr. True’s mining activities to the groundwater and the surface water hydrology, there is no way to prove that he is responsible because there was no baseline data collected,” he said.

The Motion

After a few misfires at motions from Secretary of State Chuck Gray to undo the leases, the majority of the board agreed to have Office of Lands and Investments staff see if there’s a way to reverse the earlier approval.

“I move to direct the office to explore how we can enter into an agreement to relinquish the leases,” Gray said.

His motion was seconded by state Auditor Kristi Racines and received “ayes” from Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder and Meier. Gov. Mark Gordon did not vote.

True said undoing the lease agreement is overkill and that the motion ignores his willingness to continue to work with local residents to find a compromise.

“What we just heard was the people brought questions, the company was willing to respectfully address those questions and instead of waiting for those questions to be addressed, they assumed what the company was doing was nefarious,” True said. “And now the State Land Board is trying to find a way to undo the lease.”

True said what he witnessed at the end of the meeting was that Gray, who offered separate stronger motions directing Office of State Land and Investments staff to negotiate with True to end the leases, “wants to open lines of attack and we were personally referred to as two of the deadly sins — greed and avarice.”

During the meeting, the board gave the more than 200 people gathered on the third floor of the state building in Casper a short education session on its role and how gravel mining operations are approved.

About The Water

One of the main complaints of opponents is potential for a gravel operation to damage the local water quality.

Jason Knopp, an engineer with expertise in ground water whose family owns property adjacent to the properties leased for mining, told the board the water flowing off the mountain into the gravel represents a complex system. Any digging in areas along the base of the mount could alter ground water flow forever.

Water flows off the mountain and hits gravel deposits that act as storage for the ground water, he said.

“So, if they go in there and start extracting 5 feet, 10 feet and get down to the water level, they are exhuming, they are taking away our aquifer, our storage level,” he said. “So, the faster the water will get to the river, it will go past our ranch, our operations, our houses at a faster rate and we won’t be able to collect it.”

Casper Mountain Preservation Alliance Chairperson Carolyn Griffith said it doesn’t seem right that the region’s residents have to defend their properties over the issue.

“It’s difficult for me and others to understand why it is now the responsibility of the homeowners, the city of Casper and Natrona County citizens to bear the burden of proof that leasing state lands to a gravel mining operation on the face of Casper Mountain is unsuitable,” she said. “The fragility of our water supply, the proximity to homes, and safety of trucks exiting Coates Road on Highway 22 should have red-flagged these leases.”

Go Ahead, Just Don’t Mine

Meanwhile, True told the board earlier in the meeting that while he has leased the land, his company would work with the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality and understood that he would need to have a conditional use permit from the county.

“We recognize that also as part of this process going forward,” he said. “We are working to creatively minimize any cultural and social impacts that may be unique in this situation, while still harvesting the valuable resource that is there and working the DEQ protecting all the natural resources there, water, land, and air.”

True told the board during his initial presentation that he was “confident that a dramatic number of people will say, ‘Oh, I was worried about ‘X’ but your proposal seems rational and reasonable, let’s go forward.’ I am predicting that, however, we have to walk it out and live it.”

However, state Rep. Steve Harshman, R-Casper, encouraged the board to work for a solution that would be beneficial for all — without mining.

“I want to focus more on the positive side of this because the beauty of this it has awoken the whole process and everybody knows what happened,” he said. “I appreciate the board’s service and I think we will get this solved for all of us (in the region) so we will not look at a multi-year gravel pit across the face of Casper Mountain. It just can’t happen.”

Mark Twain Said It

State Sen. Robert Ide, R-Casper, told the board that he lives 2 miles east of the proposed mining area and his own well is shallow and fragile.

“The concerns are real and water is life,” he said. “My uncle used to quote Mark Twain who said, ‘Whiskey’s for drinking and water is for fighting.’ That’s kind of where we are at on this thing.”

He said he understands the board had to follow the process.

Casper Mountain resident Tracy Lamont encouraged the board to consider that the land is to Casper what the Tetons are to Jackson.

“Ask yourself, would we ever consider building a gravel pit on state land near the outskirts of Jackson in plain sight of the majority of its residents? I think not,” he said. “Why in the world are we considering it here?”

Near the end of the meeting, Gordon said he understood the need to balance free enterprise with the concerns of residents.

“To find that balance so that we don’t go all conservation, which is what we are fighting in Rock Springs, and at the same time respect the really precious areas that we can locate, that to me is the challenge that government ought to figure out how to get to,” he said.

‘More Perfect Union’

Degenfelder thanked those who showed up at 9 a.m. and waited until 1:30 p.m. to get to the gravel pit on the agenda.

“I think we still have work to do moving forward on the future for these things. I say a lot that our founding fathers never claimed to create a perfect union, they said, ‘A more perfect union,’ and that is what we are doing every day,” she said. “Maybe that is a discussion over water quantity and looking at those things, and recreational use on our state lands. I think there is a lot more discussion and work to be done.”

After the meeting, True said he did not realize he was in an adversarial process.

“I said when we reveal to people how this can work, people will find that many are persuaded,” he said. “It seemed the land board chose the opposite and decided to not wait for a professional, calm, respectful, accommodating response, but instead wants to assume all the questions and concerns are fact. So that’s embarrassing.”

Contact Dale Killingbeck at dale@cowboystatedaily.com

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect Jim Gunderson is a local resident, not a member of the Casper Mountain Preservation Alliance, as was previously reported.

Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.