Eagle County commissioners will meet at U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday for Uinta Basin case

The Eagle County Board of Commissioners has canceled its usual Monday and Tuesday meetings to convene in Washington D.C. at a unique site: the U.S. Supreme Court.

The commissioners have tickets to attend Dec. 10 oral arguments in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado. That case invalidated a U.S. Surface Transportation Board decision that cleared the way for a proposed Uinta Basin Railway. If approved, the railway would have linked oilfields pumping waxy crude with the Union Pacific Railroad’s main line that roughly parallels Interstate 70 and the Colorado River. Eagle County was the lead plaintiff in what became a broad-based case against the Utah coalition.

The Utah coalition appealed the appellate court decision to the nation’s high court, asking whether the National Environmental Policy Act required the Surface Transportation Board to consider the potential environmental harm of the waxy crude cargo.

“This is momentous for Eagle County,” Eagle County Commissioner Matt Scherr said, noting that he and fellow Commissioners Jeanne McQueeney and Kathy Chandler-Henry were given tickets to attend the oral arguments. County attorneys Beth Oliver and Christina Hooper will also attend, but not as participants in the case.

Eagle County once had a county attorney argue a case before the Supreme Court. In the early 1990s, then-county attorney Jim Fritze argued before the nation’s high court as the county fought against the proposed Homestake II reservoir proposal against the cities of Colorado Springs and Aurora.

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Scherr noted that only eight members of the court will decide this case. Justice Neil Gorsuch has recused himself from the case due to a potential conflict due to a previous relationship with Philip Anschutz, whose firm has filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Uinta infrastructure group.

Scherr noted that if the justices deadlock on this decision, the lower court decision stands.

Scherr said even if the Utah group prevails at the Supreme Court, it will have to start over with the Surface Transportation Board.

No matter which way the justices decide, “It’s a huge decision,” Scherr said. “This could be in law school case studies.”