Wildlife Refuge’s Toxic Past Still Concerns in Colorado

For decades, Rocky Flats has been a controversial contaminated site south of Boulder, Colorado, about 20 miles north of Denver. The controversy continues as nearby communities refuse to continue development on the 6,200-acre site, which is now a nature preserve with trails for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Rocky Flats, home to nuclear weapons component manufacturing facilities from 1952 to the early 1990s, was contaminated with plutonium and other nuclear materials. The cleanup ended in 2006, and a year later the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the site Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge. Federal government officials say the area used for the shelter is safe for visitors, but the neighboring cities of Westminster and Broomfield, as well as the city of Superior, appear unconvinced.

The site of the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant near Boulder, Colorado, has been turned into a wildlife refuge, but local residents remain concerned that it is not safe for public access. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski, File)

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Last month, Westminster withdrew from a government-to-government agreement to fund a tunnel and bridge to the refuge. The development will improve access to the reserve, which is home to more than 200 species of wildlife, for tourists, walkers, cyclists and outdoor enthusiasts. Broomfield and Superior previously withdrew their support.

The refuge is part of the Rocky Mountain Greenway, a 25-mile trail that stretches from the Denver suburb of Commerce City into Boulder and Jefferson counties. The trail links Rocky Flats to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, an area outside of downtown Denver that was also cleared of pollution caused by the production of chemical warfare agents, including mustard gas, during World War II.

In a 2006 report, the U.S. Government Accountability Office reported that $10 billion had been spent on cleaning up Rocky Flats since 1995. According to the GAO, the amount of debris that had to be removed “was equivalent to a 65-story building the length and width of a football field.”

In this 1989 photo, police and security officers untangle passively resisting protesters in the driveway of the Rocky Flats plant, which makes nuclear weapons parts, near Boulder, Colorado. (Photo by Howard Ruffner/Getty Images)

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The Rocky Flats area, part of the preserve, has never been used for industrial activity, the Environmental Protection Agency says on its website, and “extensive air and soil sampling” showed that “the area can be cleared for unrestricted use and unrestricted impact on the public.”

Last month, a majority of Westminster City Council members said they fear foot traffic could lead to plutonium production, according to an article published by Colorado Community Media, which has publications in eight Colorado counties. Critics said there remains measurable radioactive material in and around Rocky Flats that will persist for thousands of years, the media group reported.