Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge plans to open next year, but the controversial history of the area has gained scrutiny from Arvada Residents.
Dozens of Arvada residents spoke out against the opening of the Rock Flats National Wildlife Refuge. Considering that sixty-five years ago, Rocky Flats started as a nuclear weapons facility, there was large concern for public safety. The resounding argument at the May 15 meeting at the Arvada Center was that the area is simply not suitable for public recreation. The site has plutonium and other industrial waste materials buried underground, and there is a possibility of exposure for visitors to the new wildlife refuge. While the 16-mile area is under scrutiny by the residents of Arvada, the Arvada City Councilman Mark McGoff, who also serves as the city’s representative on the Rocky Flats Stewardship Council, stated that the federal law has already established the area’s wildlife refuge stats and mandated that public access be secured.
A 1,200-acre portion of the overall property coined the “Central Operable Unit” is still an active Superfund cleanup site, and will remain off-limits for public safety reasons. The site is located in the middle of the refuge. The remaining 5,000 acres of the area will comprise the accessible refuge. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported that the area, since returned to the prairie, is home to 239 migratory and resident species. Animals include: prairie falcons, deer, elk, coyotes, birds, and the threatened Preble’s meadow jumping mouse.
The area is beautiful, no doubt, but it’s beauty does not diminish Arvada residents' concern for exposure and safety. Several studies have conducted on the area, but have unfortunately failed to end arguments over the safety of the area - one way or another.
According to government regulations, an acceptable level of plutonium in soil visiting the site daily is 9.8 picocuries per gram of soil. When sampled by the DOE in 2006, soil in the wildlife refuge had an average radioactivity of 1.09 picocuries per gram - rising to an average of 3.2 picocuries in areas downwind of those specific areas. The Department of Energy estimates a visitor to the refuge would be exposed to additional radiation equal to 1/8th the amount received during a medical X-ray.
A January study conducted by the State Health Department analyzed 10 types of cancer, and concluded that cancer levels for communities around Rocky Flats were no different than those of the surrounding Denver Metro communities.
Conversely, biologist Harvey Nichols, stated the government’s sampling was unlikely to have identified hotspots in surface soils; nor did the safety standards account for the risk of ingesting plutonium, which could cause exposure to organs.
If they open the refuge, children will be exposed to plutonium. Why would we do that?” - LeRoy Moore, co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, e360 YaleBack in it's operational days, the plant had a notorious history of shady rule breaking and disregard for the basics of management of nuclear materials. There had been frequent fires in the plutonium handling areas, caused by the plutonium spontaneously combusting. The biggest of these fires happened in 1957, and was kept a secret at the time. The fire burned out the stack filters and released about a pound of plutonium in smoke, which in turn rained down over what will be the new wildlife refuge. Storage and management of materials also has a questionable history. By the time Rocky Flats closed, there was an estimated 1.2 tons of plutonium that could not be accounted for.
Moreover, there was also widespread dumping and spraying of contaminated waste on the land around the facility, of which some ran into local creeks or shifted down-wind. There were also accusations of illegal burning of plutonium waste that led to an FBI raid in 1989 that then led to the site being shut down.
Shady history, murky studies, a thumbs-up from an organizer and City Councilman and extreme concern from Arvada residents all surround the opening of the Rocky Flats Wildlife Refuge. The site aims to open in the Spring of 2018. Visit Colorado.gov to learn more about the history of the site.
What do you think about the wildlife refuge in this controversial area? Do you live in Arvada? We want to hear what your community thinks!
