On June 7, Rocky Flats Stewardship Council board members toured the Rocky Flats Site near Denver. Covering more than 1,300 acres, DOE’s Rocky Flats Site sits on a plateau at the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains Front Range, at an elevation close to 6,000 feet.
“We appreciate the opportunity to share the long-term care and stewardship of the Rocky Flats Site with the Rocky Flats Stewardship Council board members and to engage in conversations and answer questions impacting their communities,” said LM Rocky Flats Site Manager Andrew Keim. “LM is committed to ensuring the protection of human health and the environment at the Rocky Flats Site and for our neighbors.”
From 1952 to 1994, a plant the size of a small city produced components at the site for the nation’s nuclear arsenal, including plutonium pits, or “triggers.” In October 2005, DOE and its contractor completed an accelerated 10-year, $7 billion cleanup, which included decommissioning, decontaminating, demolishing, and removing more than 800 structures. During cleanup, DOE removed more than 500,000 cubic meters of low-level radioactive waste.
The tour allowed Rocky Flats Stewardship Council members to get behind the fence and see the site firsthand. Formed in 2006, the council provides continuing local engagement on long-term stewardship at the site. Tour participants included members from the cities of Arvada, Boulder, Broomfield, Golden, Northglenn, Thornton, Superior, Westminster, Boulder County, Broomfield County, and Jefferson County, as well as members of three nonprofit organizations—the League of Women Voters, the Rocky Flats Homesteaders and the Rocky Flats Cold War Museum. In addition to LM and LM contractor staff, site regulators from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were also on hand to help address questions from the council members.
Council members saw where contaminants were released during the production era. For instance, they saw where thousands of drums leaked plutonium-tainted solvents on the 903 Pad during the 1960s. They also saw where the 700 area once stood—the location of a plutonium fire on Mother’s Day 1969.
While the buildings may be gone, some residual contamination remains. That’s why Legacy Management continues to look after the site. Council members saw some of the remedial infrastructure and monitoring systems operated by LM. They viewed the solar pond treatment system, which removes uranium and nitrates from groundwater. They also checked out one of the Points of Evaluation, GS10 in South Walnut Creek, a surface water monitoring location with automated sampling equipment.
With the site protective of human health and the environment and revegetated with native plants, it provides an excellent habitat for animals, such as the endangered Preble's meadow jumping mouse and elk. The elusive jumping mouse was not to be seen during the tour; however, the elk seemed to be everywhere.
“The cleanup agreement calls for controlled access to the site, which limits the public’s ability to see what’s out here,” said Padraic Benson, a program analyst with Legacy Management. “That’s why it’s so important that the Stewardship Council comes out to see the site for themselves.”
Learn more about RFSC at rockyflatssc.org.
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