The Energy Department told the state it has no current plans to change the classification. It was also helpful that the location was close to Stapleton airfield, a major transportation hub.[5]. Rated magnitude 1.5, it was not strong enough to be felt by area residents. Fish and Wildlife Service inventoried more than 330 species of wildlife that inhabit the Arsenal including deer, coyotes, white pelicans and owls. Additionally, ordnance (including incendiary munitions) was manufactured and tested, and asbestos and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were used at RMA. Madison, the Fish and Wildlife Service historian, said the refuges are salvaging something valuable from ecological devastation. The Rocky Mountain Arsenal, a manufacturing center of United States chemical weapons, is located in Commerce City, Colorado. Following the war and through the early 1980s, the facilities continued to be used by the Army. Following a final land transfer, the Refuge expands to 15,000 acres and becomes one of the largest urban national wildlife refuges in the United States. This public availability will be implemented while simultaneously supporting the remediation effort and the USFWS activities. By year end, the United States has out-produced the Axis Powers by 150 percent. In addition, contamination affects public health and nature (honeybee poisonings, pesticide resistance in pests, destruction of natural predators, wild birds, microbes) negatively. Houses creaked and objects rattled during this magnitude 2.1 earthquake. 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. Otherkey partners include Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment, the local health department andlocal government officials, the Army,U.S. Farmers in the vicinity complained about the damage to crops due to the water pumped from the shallow alluvial aquifer. (9 of 9). Please click here to see any active alerts. An official website of the United States government, Archives: Project Descriptions / Fact Sheets, Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil. In response, the Army constructed an asphalt-lined impoundment for the disposal of wastes in 1956. They have been left in place to excavate, so they have been left in place. Legislators quickly moved from beneath chandeliers in the Denver Capitol Building, fearing they might fall. 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. The Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge Act was passed in October 1992 and signed by President George H. W. Bush. The Rocky Mountain Arsenal was placed on the National Priorities List of Superfund sites in July 1987. 24,590 were here. There is no appropriate standard by the EPA, but the state of Colorado has a standard treatment protocol for this chemical. 6:54AM. As production declined at wars end, the U.S. Army leased some of the facilities to private companies, one of which Shell Oil Co. purchased, for the production of agricultural chemicals. The Army was dumping dangerous chemicals into a deep injection well out at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. For more information please visit U.S. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has sued the U.S. Army claiming that dangerous chemicals including pesticides continue to leach into groundwater at Rocky Mountain Arsenal . An astonishing array of animals and habitats flourished onsix obsolete weapons complexes mostly for nuclear or chemical arms because the sites banned the public and other intrusions for decades. independent local journalism in Denver. Beginning in 1942, the arsenal was the main site at which the Chemical Corps manufactured chemical weapons such as mustard gas, nerve gas, and phosgene.The Army eventually leased part of the 27 mi 2 (70 km 2) plot of . 4300 Cherry Creek Drive South Denver, CO 80246, Colorado Health Information Data Set (CoHID), Office of Public Health Practice, Planning, and Local Partnerships (OPHP), Air Quality - Monitoring, Modeling and Data. 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. Two early morning shocks occurred November 14. 1987The EPA places the RMA on the National Priorities (or Superfund) List. Three criteria were es 1941Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, and the United States enters World War II. First, the well casing was tested to evaluate its integrity. In 1984, the Army began a systematic investigation of site contamination in accordance with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), commonly referred to as Superfund. The U.S. At least 30 of the 560-plusrefugesmanaged by the wildlife service have some history with the military or weapons production, the AP found. Fish and Wildlife Service, Walter Derr, The Associated Press. Its radiation isnt strong enough to be dangerous outside the body, but its dust is a serious health risk if inhaled or swallowed, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says. Another strong shock rumbled through the Denver area on November 14, 1966, causing some damage at Commerce City and Eastlake. the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Disposal Well By D. B. Hoover and J. There are multiple paved, boardwalk, or gravel trail options with a variety of lengths and difficulty levels available. Manufacturing and waste disposal practices used during these years resulted in extensive soil, surface water, sediment, groundwater and structures contamination, damage to trees and vegetation, and death to wildlife. Today, the Refuge encompasses more than 15,000 acres of restored shortgrass prairie and provides habitat to more 300 species of wildlife, including American bison, bald eagles, mule and white-tailed deer, burrowing owls and black-footed ferrets. The contamination of the underlying alluvial aquifer occurred due to the discharge of waste into unlined basins. MORE: Federal prosecutors say they cant find files on investigation into Rocky Flats nuclear arms plant. In an effort to foster economic growth in the area and maintain the facilities for national security, private companies were encouraged to lease facilities beginning in the mid-1940s. Denver's independent source of Rocky Mountain Arsenal, among other post-military sites, was a top priority, establishing RMA as a superfund site. One monitoring project has demonstrated incremental improvements over time, and specifically measured 640 parts per billion (ppb) in 1987 and 55 ppb in 1989, while a different off-post monitoring well measured 138 ppb in 1985, 105 ppb in 1987, 14 ppb in 1988, and 6.7 ppb in 1989. During 1968, ten slight shocks were felt in Colorado. (8 of 9), "The Refuge and adjacent property represent a public-private partnership done right," said Mayor Sean Ford. Additional cement barriers were placed inside the casing across zones that could access water-bearing formations (aquifers). American bison are reintroduced to the site that same year as part of a nationwide conservation effort. The Army is still struggling with cleaning up Jefferson Proving Ground in southeastern Indiana, part of which becameBig Oaks National Wildlife Refuge. 1943RMA employees work around the clock to manufacture mustard gas, Lewisite, chlorine gas and incendiary weapons. Starting in 1942, the U.S. Army used the 27-mile site for the manufacture, assembly, and disposal . An official website of the United States government, Rocky Mountain Arsenal has recently published its annual community report. The waste from the pre-treatment plant was generally a solution containing 13,000 parts per million sodium chloride (salt), with a pH ranging from 3.5 to 11.5. Rates of birth defects in the communities surrounding the arsenal were also monitored and found to be stable and no different than rates for all of Colorado. Known today as an urban national wildlife refuge, the Rocky Mountain Arsenal traces its beginnings to the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, which brought the United States into World War II.. Depleted uranium, a byproduct of nuclear fuel production, is used for armor-piercing shells. Site reviews will be conducted every five years to make sure the cleanup remedy is still effective. These potential confounders are not clearly addressed in this report and may complicate the analysis as well as raise concern for disparities in exposure risk that is dependent upon demographic factors. Many projects have attempted to clean contaminated groundwater at the Arsenal. After the attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States entered World War II, the U.S. Army began looking for land to create a chemical manufacturing center. OVERVIEW - Just 10 miles northeast of Denver, Colorado lies one of the largest urban wildlife refuges in the country, an area that only 30 years ago was listed on the Superfund National Priorities List due to being contaminated by over 600 chemicals. Fish and Wildlife Service is responsible for managing the Arsenals wildlife and habitat. [18] While it is difficult to capture the societal cost to clean up the site, the list of actions dealing with groundwater contamination listed by Mears and Heise include: Direct economic totals add up to approximately $111 million and this estimation does not include operation and maintenance costs. Fish and Wildlife Service enter into a unique public-private teaming arrangement called the Remediation Venture Office (RVO) to facilitate the safe, timely and cost-effective cleanup and transition of the site. Critics say Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Colorado illustrates the shortcomings of a cleanup designed to be good enough for a refuge but not for human habitation. Fish and Wildlife Service, bringing the total to 15,000 acres (61km2). "Without the support of multiple federal agencies including the EPA Commerce City would have not been able to leverage a remediated property into a true community asset." The U.S. Congress responded to the movement in 1980 with the creation of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), most commonly referred to as a Superfund. Theyre there all the time, Madison said. Mallard carcasses found to have higher levels of Dieldrin. The U.S. Army permanently manages. In the early 1960s, the U.S. Army began to lease out its facilities to private companies to manufacture pesticides. selected for the Rocky Mountain Arsenal includes the removal of contaminated soil down to 10 over much of the contaminated area, and that contaminated overburden is contained in two hazardous waste landfills that remain on the site. A lateral was built off the High Line Canal to supply water to the Arsenal. Many of the conversions came after the first and second world wars. Thousands of ducks died after coming in contact with its wastewater ponds in the 1950s. There is an 11-mile motor tour that takes you through the preserve. From a tiny Pacific island to a leafy Indiana forest, a handful of sites where the United States manufactured and tested some of the most lethal weapons known to humankind are now peaceful havens for wildlife. Fish and Wildlife Service andShell Oil Company. Drop us a note at tips@coloradosun.com. 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. Birth defects included in the analysis were: "total congenital anomalies, major congenital anomalies, heart defects, muscle and skeletal defects, and kidney and bladder defects," and these categories were inconsistent in reporting accuracy. In addition, there were actions completed by Future Farmers of America (FFA) between 1991 and 1993 that cost approximately $151.2 million. The U.S. 1952Shell Chemical Co. purchases Julius Hyman and Company and continues to manufacture agricultural chemicals at the RMA until 1982. At the borders of the RMA and at some places in the sites interior, contaminated groundwater is pumped from the below the surface and cleaned before reinjection. 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