From 1964 -- 1966, waste was removed from an isolated section of Basin F and was combined with waste from a pre-treatment plant, located near Basin F, and then pumped into the well. 1986Workers discover a communal roost of bald eagles at the RMA. The Army needs to find a way to clean up the depleted uranium safely.. Fish and Wildlife Service, Walter Derr, The Associated Press. (1 of 9) SITE HISTORY - Rocky Mountain Arsenal was listed on the NPL in 1987. 2003The EPA removes 917 acres of RMA land from the National Priorities List. In some cases, they could have conceivably made the site into something that was economically valuable, but that would have cost more, Rome said. Soon after, Congress enacted legislation designating the RMA as a future national wildlife refuge. All waste that was left in place is now interred beneath large-area engineered covers that prevent any intrusion into the waste that remains below. While the framework for the comprehensive environmental cleanup was being developed, work crews discovered a pair of roosting bald eagles at the site, which prompted the U.S. Site reviews will be conducted every five years to make sure the cleanup remedy is still effective. As provided by CERCLA, a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) was conducted to determine the extent of contamination. Then, on April 10, the largest since the series began in 1962 occurred; 118 windowpanes were broken in buildings at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, a crack in an asphalt parking lot was noted in the Derby area, and schools were dismissed in Boulder, where walls sustained cracks. Restrictions on well water use, residential development, consumption of fish and game from the arsenal, and agricultural use of the arsenal will exist in perpetuity until further scientific research is completed at the site. The U.S. Army will permanently retain and manage about 1,000 acres of Arsenal land that contain the landfills, waste consolidation areas and groundwater treatment facilities to ensure they remain protective of human health and the environment. That rankles Tim Maloney, a senior policy director for the Hoosier Environmental Council. But forty years ago, a series of quakes rocked the Denver area -- quakes caused not by Mother Nature, but by Uncle Sam. This led the State of Colorado to take legal action over who has legal authority over RMA remediation efforts, payment of natural resource damages (NRDs), and reimbursement of costs expended for cleanup activities (response costs). Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, a former nuclear weapons plant northwest of Denver, opened to hikers and cyclists last September, but some activists question whether its safe. Farmers in the vicinity complained about the damage to crops due to the water pumped from the shallow alluvial aquifer. In 2009, the state of Colorado, Shell Oil Co., and the United States Army settled a lawsuit pertaining to damages to the states natural resources from past activities at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal that caused extensive contamination of soil and water at the site. Longstanding agricultural and health concerns related to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal have resulted in a complex history of political and legal battles. Catch . Early 1980sAll production at the RMA ceases, and the mission shifts to environmental remediation and restoration. For testing purposes, the well was injected with approximately 568,000 gallons of city water prior to injecting any waste. Houses creaked and objects rattled during this magnitude 2.1 earthquake. This public availability will be implemented while simultaneously supporting the remediation effort and the USFWS activities. From 1950 to 1952, the Army constructed the North Plants complex to manufacture the nerve agents VX and GB, (also called sarin). Rocket fuel was blended on-site for the Titan and Delta missile operations. To read the report, click, Archives: Project Descriptions / Fact Sheets, Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil. The animals were transferred from the National Bison Range in Montana. biological agent at Rocky Mountain Arsenal was begun in August 1971 and was completed in mid-February 1973. Contaminants included solvents, metals, pesticides, and miscellaneous manufacturing-related chemicals. The 17,000-acre site is 10 miles northeast of Denver. This new publication offers highlights from the past year, along with news about upcoming projects scheduled for 2022. During removal of contaminated soil and construction of the remedy containment structures, air monitoring was conducted at multiple sites in the Arsenals interior and fence line, and several sites in the surrounding communities. 2015Black-footed ferrets are reintroduced at the Refuge as part of a nationwide recovery program for the endangered species. 6:54AM. Photo source: Denver Post This soil is contained in hazardous waste landfills. An astonishing array of animals and habitats flourished on six obsolete weapons complexes mostly for nuclear or chemical arms because the sites banned the public and other intrusions for decades, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), In this Oct. 13, 2005, file photo, deer cross a road striped of its asphalt at the former Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons plant near Golden, Colo. (Ed Andrieski, AP File photo), How Denver is spending the $41M from the Broncos sale, Three members of Colorados congressional delegation seek $60 billion to reduce wildfire risk, restore Western land, Troubled K.P. 2004After the EPA certifies that cleanup actions are complete, the U.S. Department of Defense transfers 5,000 acres of RMA land to the U.S. Department of the Interior to officially establish the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. The cleanup was completed in 2010 and five large parcels of land have been deleted from the NPL, creating opportunities for reuse development and expansion of the Refuge. A lot of the environmental stories are kind of doomy and gloomy, and these are successful ones, something positive, he said. 2007The EPA honors the RMA with its national Land Revitalization Award. Its location was selected because it is far from the coast and it has sufficient labor force. In this study, baseline birth defects were estimated from the time period 19891997, which was the point at which the clean-up began, and inclusion criteria included mother's address at the time of birth being within the geographical study area. Another group asked the courts to release documents from a 27-year-old criminal investigation into the weapons plant, hoping they will show whether the government tracked down and cleaned up all the contamination. The military, the U.S. Department of Energy and private companies have spent more than $57 billion to clean up the six heavily polluted sites, according to figures gathered by The Associated Press from military and civil agencies. In September 2010, the cleanup was considered complete, and the remaining portions of land were transferred to the U.S. Beginning in October 2012, testing has revealed that pollutants have escaped the Shell trenches and groundwater is likely coming into contact with the waste and migrating out of the trenches, the lawsuit says. Three shocks in 1965 -- February 16, September 29, and November 20 -- caused intensity VI damage in Commerce City and environs. Contaminated ground water was first discovered to have migrated off of the Arsenal in the mid-1950s when crop damage and affected livestock was noted on farms north of the Arsenal. When the cleanup was completed, it was clear that no Arsenal chemicals had been released into the air that exceeded the health-protective levels established for the site since the environmental cleanup began in October 1997. Also, they noted that if all groundwater were to be cleared for human consumption, the cost would be $500 million annually. The cleanup of the refuge's 15,000 acres was completed in 2010. Roughly 10 miles (16 kilometers) from downtown Denver, the arsenal was once an environmental nightmare where chemical weapons and commercial pesticides were made. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. The brochure contains general information, license requirements, fee requirements, and a list of fish species. As cleanup actions were successfully completed, the U.S. Army transferred land to the U.S. Rocky Mountain Greenway Trail Open: Year-round to hiking, bicycles, and Class 1 e-Bikes Length: 4.8 miles This regional trail corridor will link Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge with Two Ponds and Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuges, along with many other protected open space and park lands throughout the Denver metro-area. [14] The following data were derived from the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Medical Monitoring Program Surveillance for Birth Defects Compendium prepared by Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and published in February 2010. Additionally, studies performed at Colorado State University found no increased risk of Arsenic, Mercury, or neurotoxicity in communities within 15 miles of the RMA.[16][17]. The U.S. Army has begun removing Building 130, which is located northeast of the Refuge Visitors Center. JavaScript appears to be disabled on this computer. The waste fluid chemistry is not known precisely. The JARDF is located at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, 7270 Kingston Parkway, Building 129, Commerce City, CO 80022-1749. The magnitude 5.2 event caused widespread minor damage in the suburban areas of northeast Denver. At least 30 of the 560-plusrefugesmanaged by the wildlife service have some history with the military or weapons production, the AP found. In its own account of the cleanup at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, the Army web site offers this explanation: The Rocky Mountain Arsenal deep injection well was constructed in 1961, and was drilled to a depth of 12,045 feet. By the end of December 1962, 190 earthquakes had occurred. Kirk Mitchell is a general assignment reporter at The Denver Post who focuses on criminal justice stories. The Colorado Sun is a journalist-owned, award-winning news outlet based in Denver that strives to cover all of Colorado so that our state our community can better understand itself. When the Cold War ended in the 1980s, more surplus military lands were earmarked for refuges. The On-Post Record of Decision was signed in June 1996 and describes the cleanup plan for soils, groundwater and structures within the approximately 27-square-mile on-post Operable Unit. So theres a huge downside to converting it into a wildlife refuge, because it allows residual contamination to remain in place, said Jeff Edson, a former Colorado state health official who worked on the cleanup. Some parts of the refuge have been deemed safe but visitors must watch a safety video and sign a waiver promising not to sue if theyre injured by an exploding shell. To read the report, click here. Its not because the Department of Defense has some ecological ethic, said Havlick, author of a book about conversions, Bombs Away: Militarization, Conservation, and Ecological Restoration.. The cleanup was completed in 2010 and five large parcels of land have been deleted from the NPL . The Rocky Mountain Arsenal (RMA) is a former chemical weapons manufacturing facility located just outside and northwest of the Denver, Colorado metropolitan area (Figure 21). Converting a heavily polluted weapons complex into a wildlife refuge is cheaper than making it safe for homes, schools and businesses, said Adam Rome, who teaches environmental history at the State University of New York at Buffalo. The U.S. Army selected 17,000 acres of farm land just 10 miles northeast of Denver in Commerce City, Colorado, as the site of the new Arsenal. Fish and Wildlife Service, bringing the total to 15,000 acres (61km2). Conditions reports for this lake are available when logged in. Then a year and half after the Rocky Mountain Arsenal waste dumping practice stopped, the strongest and most widely felt shock in Denver's history struck that area on August 9, 1967, at 6:25 in the morning. [8] It was drilled to a depth of 12,045 feet (3671 m). Feds light fires at Rocky Mountain Arsenal to restore prairie for multiplying bison and the visitors who flock there Prescribed fire is meant to invigorate about 875 acres of short-grass . 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