US: Cemex has been cleared to continue operating its cement plant east of Lyons, Colorado, in a reversal of a previous Boulder County decision. The plant was issued with a letter terminating its right to operate in April 2024, citing a traffic study that showed increased traffic had created a hazard and had expanded the use of the plant alongside a regional highway.
Boulder County Community Planning and Permitting Director Dale Case said at the time that Cemex was directed to stop operating because an expansion wasn't allowed under the county's land use rules. Cemex appealed the decision and was allowed to continue operating until a ruling was made on that appeal.
On 19 May 2026, Case said that Cemex had "provided satisfactory evidence that the termination determination was made in error. Specifically, the evidence shows that there was no significant increase in truck traffic to and from the property since the closure of the Dowe Flats Quarry, compared with 1994 traffic numbers.”
A press release said that the 2024 determination was based on the best information available to director Case at the time. Cemex had always argued that Boulder County should not have relied on the traffic study required by the Colorado Department of Transportation, saying that study didn't include historical traffic levels and that it used only a single day of recent data.
"The department's reliance on only one random day of data from the five decades the plant has been in operation is arbitrary and capricious, especially when viewed in light of the contrary conclusions reached after a more thorough historical evaluation," said Cemex in its response.