A tanker truck leaving the Mountain Cement Co. plant in Denver on Monday, March 3, 2025. (BusinessDen file)
In a downtown courtroom Monday and Tuesday, The Source Hotel + Market Hall made its case that a cement facility should be barred from blowing dust its way, while the industrial company said it is already making changes and a judge questioned why she is being asked to decide.
“This injunctive relief that you’re requesting, isn’t it more appropriate to come from the state government regulatory body versus me?” Judge Sarah Wallace asked hotel lawyers.
“I think it behooves everyone to minimize the dust but I guess I’m not real sure why (The Source) doesn’t just fix or replace its HVAC system,” she said. “If it gets mucked up again, and they can prove it’s mucked up due to the defendants, that’s just additional damages.”
The Source is suing Mountain Cement Co., which has been moving Portland cement through its silos at 35th and Wynkoop Streets since the 1980s. The hotel, which opened next door in 2018, says MCC has caused $3.2 million in damage to its food hall HVAC systems by increasing emissions of cement dust, first in the fall of 2023 and again in recent months.
The Source has not specified what changes it would like to see from its neighbor, only that it wants dust emissions lowered. Mountain Cement’s facility takes cement that arrives by railcar and dumps it into trucks for transportation to local customers. The process involves dropping cement down a silo and cleaning the tops of tanker trucks before they drive away.
“Did you receive any complaints?” Source lawyer Stacy Carpenter asked a witness Monday.
“Yes, we did receive complaints on Feb. 27. At our tenant meeting, SwitchWood explained that despite their best efforts, they are unable to keep the interior of their space clean of dust,” Thomas Robles, project manager at The Source, said of a fashion store there.
“What the hotel wants is for the effects of Mountain Cement’s business activities to no longer cause damage, both to HVAC units and the interior of Market Hall 1,” he added.
Lawyers for Mountain Cement cast doubt on the damage their client has caused while vowing to continue making improvements in tandem with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The department regulates air emissions and has an open case involving MCC.
“This is an attempt to manufacture an emergency for litigation purposes,” said Jim Henderson, an attorney for MCC. “The lawsuit largely focuses on issues in the fall of 2023 that were addressed by Mountain Cement at the time. The only more recent behavior that The Source seems to complain about is truck drivers using compressed air or leaf blowers to clean off the tops of their trucks.”
The Source Hotel + Market Hall at 3330 Brighton Blvd. Mountain Cement Co.’s silos loom behind it. (BusinessDen file)
Henderson said that Mountain Cement has since stopped blowing dust toward The Source.
“It’s not clear, then, what The Source can ask the court to address,” he told the judge.
Much of the two-day hearing was taken up by the testimony of Robles, who oversees building maintenance at The Source’s hotel, market hall and parking garage. At times, he held up an air filter that he removed from the hall. After 10 weeks, it was clogged with grey dust.
“Our consultants are now advising us that due to the continued and expedited degradation of its HVAC unit, come summer of this year, we will no longer be able to cool the interior of Market Hall 1 to the temperature that is stipulated in leases with tenants,” Robles testified.
Market Hall 1 is the detached brick building nearest to Mountain Cement. The Source refers to the second floor of the hotel building, which includes the Safta and Smok restaurants, as Market Hall 2.
“Mr. Robles, has The Source Hotel ever canceled any events because of dust?” an attorney for Mountain Cement, Mark Champoux, asked. The manager responded, “No.”
“Have you terminated any contracts in the Market Hall because of the dust?” he asked.
“The dust has posed a threat to the future ability to cool the interior, which would breach the lease agreements,” Robles answered. He said it must remain below 80 degrees.
Later in the day, a private investigator testified about video surveillance of Mountain Cement he conducted in December, which showed employees blowing dust toward The Source. An engineering expert testified about the effects of concrete dust on HVAC systems there.
On Tuesday morning, Ben Bufmack, a vice president of operations at Mountain Cement, told the court about improvements he has made at the plant and volunteered to do more.
“We obviously needed to do something different here,” Bufmack said of the facility.
Mountain Cement concedes that it likely owes The Source some money for HVAC repairs because of upticks in emissions after equipment failures in 2023 but has balked at seven-figure demands, saying that concrete construction elsewhere in RiNo, along with interstate traffic and the age of The Source’s HVAC systems (12 years), also deserve blame for their decline.
Wallace has not said when she will decide whether to impose requirements on Mountain Cement. Throughout the hearing, the judge took it upon herself to ask questions of witnesses, including about the layout of The Source and when The Moose sports bar opened.
“I’ve been to The Source,” the judge said at one point.
“I can tell!” Carpenter replied.
A tanker truck leaving the Mountain Cement Co. plant in Denver on Monday, March 3, 2025. (BusinessDen file)
In a downtown courtroom Monday and Tuesday, The Source Hotel + Market Hall made its case that a cement facility should be barred from blowing dust its way, while the industrial company said it is already making changes and a judge questioned why she is being asked to decide.
“This injunctive relief that you’re requesting, isn’t it more appropriate to come from the state government regulatory body versus me?” Judge Sarah Wallace asked hotel lawyers.
“I think it behooves everyone to minimize the dust but I guess I’m not real sure why (The Source) doesn’t just fix or replace its HVAC system,” she said. “If it gets mucked up again, and they can prove it’s mucked up due to the defendants, that’s just additional damages.”
The Source is suing Mountain Cement Co., which has been moving Portland cement through its silos at 35th and Wynkoop Streets since the 1980s. The hotel, which opened next door in 2018, says MCC has caused $3.2 million in damage to its food hall HVAC systems by increasing emissions of cement dust, first in the fall of 2023 and again in recent months.
The Source has not specified what changes it would like to see from its neighbor, only that it wants dust emissions lowered. Mountain Cement’s facility takes cement that arrives by railcar and dumps it into trucks for transportation to local customers. The process involves dropping cement down a silo and cleaning the tops of tanker trucks before they drive away.
“Did you receive any complaints?” Source lawyer Stacy Carpenter asked a witness Monday.
“Yes, we did receive complaints on Feb. 27. At our tenant meeting, SwitchWood explained that despite their best efforts, they are unable to keep the interior of their space clean of dust,” Thomas Robles, project manager at The Source, said of a fashion store there.
“What the hotel wants is for the effects of Mountain Cement’s business activities to no longer cause damage, both to HVAC units and the interior of Market Hall 1,” he added.
Lawyers for Mountain Cement cast doubt on the damage their client has caused while vowing to continue making improvements in tandem with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The department regulates air emissions and has an open case involving MCC.
“This is an attempt to manufacture an emergency for litigation purposes,” said Jim Henderson, an attorney for MCC. “The lawsuit largely focuses on issues in the fall of 2023 that were addressed by Mountain Cement at the time. The only more recent behavior that The Source seems to complain about is truck drivers using compressed air or leaf blowers to clean off the tops of their trucks.”
The Source Hotel + Market Hall at 3330 Brighton Blvd. Mountain Cement Co.’s silos loom behind it. (BusinessDen file)
Henderson said that Mountain Cement has since stopped blowing dust toward The Source.
“It’s not clear, then, what The Source can ask the court to address,” he told the judge.
Much of the two-day hearing was taken up by the testimony of Robles, who oversees building maintenance at The Source’s hotel, market hall and parking garage. At times, he held up an air filter that he removed from the hall. After 10 weeks, it was clogged with grey dust.
“Our consultants are now advising us that due to the continued and expedited degradation of its HVAC unit, come summer of this year, we will no longer be able to cool the interior of Market Hall 1 to the temperature that is stipulated in leases with tenants,” Robles testified.
Market Hall 1 is the detached brick building nearest to Mountain Cement. The Source refers to the second floor of the hotel building, which includes the Safta and Smok restaurants, as Market Hall 2.
“Mr. Robles, has The Source Hotel ever canceled any events because of dust?” an attorney for Mountain Cement, Mark Champoux, asked. The manager responded, “No.”
“Have you terminated any contracts in the Market Hall because of the dust?” he asked.
“The dust has posed a threat to the future ability to cool the interior, which would breach the lease agreements,” Robles answered. He said it must remain below 80 degrees.
Later in the day, a private investigator testified about video surveillance of Mountain Cement he conducted in December, which showed employees blowing dust toward The Source. An engineering expert testified about the effects of concrete dust on HVAC systems there.
On Tuesday morning, Ben Bufmack, a vice president of operations at Mountain Cement, told the court about improvements he has made at the plant and volunteered to do more.
“We obviously needed to do something different here,” Bufmack said of the facility.
Mountain Cement concedes that it likely owes The Source some money for HVAC repairs because of upticks in emissions after equipment failures in 2023 but has balked at seven-figure demands, saying that concrete construction elsewhere in RiNo, along with interstate traffic and the age of The Source’s HVAC systems (12 years), also deserve blame for their decline.
Wallace has not said when she will decide whether to impose requirements on Mountain Cement. Throughout the hearing, the judge took it upon herself to ask questions of witnesses, including about the layout of The Source and when The Moose sports bar opened.
“I’ve been to The Source,” the judge said at one point.
“I can tell!” Carpenter replied.
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