Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge
Encyclopedia
The Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge
located approximately 16 miles (26 km) northwest of Denver, Colorado. The site was previously occupied by the Rocky Flats Plant
, a nuclear weapons production facility. Contaminated by plutonium
during plutonium fires and both uranium
and plutonium ground leakage, there is no public access to the refuge at this time.
.
This stated vision is controversial, as plutonium, uranium and trans-uranic elements exist in the area from past nuclear weapons production.
.
Plutonium "triggers," also called nuclear pits, were manufactured at the site for 40 years. The triggers were themselves nuclear-fission
bombs designed to implosively ignite fusion
reactions in thermonuclear warheads. There were serious leaks from outside-stored drums of radioactive waste in the 1950s and 1960s that originated from spent lubricant used in plutonium milling .
Plutonium can spontaneously combust at room temperatures in air, and major plutonium-based fires at Rocky Flats in 1957 and 1969 were the most costly industrial incidents of their time. These two fires took years for immediate-area clean-up, and many other fires occurred as well. These fires spread plutonium throughout the northwest corridor of the Greater Denver area, reaching into downtown by way of prevailing winds. As plutonium has a 24,000-year half-life, nearly all of this contamination still exists in some form, and has been spread by the substantial (up to 80 mile-per-hour) winds that can frequent the Front Range
area at the base of the Rocky Mountains. Water and soil contamination was finally publicly reported in the 1970s, even though the leakage and fire-spread contamination had occurred many years earlier.
As reported in the press, "The 1980s were no better for the U.S. Department of Energy facility, culminating in a Federal Bureau of Investigation raid in 1989 that shut it down for multiple violations of U.S. anti-pollution laws."
Subsequent to substantial public protests over time, in 1992, the mission of the Rocky Flats site changed from weapons production to environmental cleanup and closure. Rocky Flats was declared as a Superfund
site, and most of the production facilities were removed in 1995. Radioactive contamination (plutonium, uranium, tritium and trans-uranic elements) was removed from the surface of the earth in the immediate area of the plant, but not removed from what is proposed to become a wildlife refuge. Contamination was also broadly left buried below-ground when it was found there in order to mitigate costs to the U.S. Government.
After the June 1989 FBI raid of the Rocky Flats Plant for investigation of environmental crimes, federal authorities used the subsequent grand jury investigation to gather evidence of wrongdoing and then sealed the record. The court allowed the Rocky Flats operators to withhold from the public data about the nature and extent of contamination on and off the site. In October 2006, DOE announced completion of the Rocky Flats “cleanup” without this information being available.
Under the Refuge Act, most of the 6240 acres (25.3 km²) Rocky Flats site may become a refuge, provided that certification from the United States Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) is obtained and which asserts that the cleanup and closure have been completed.
The Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) emphasizes both wildlife and habitat conservation along with moderate level of wildlife-dependent public use. Public access is currently prohibited due to concerns over the remaining contamination from plutonium and uranium.
) and uranium created over decades of nuclear weapons production, fires and criticality
accidents at Rocky Flats remains a hotly contested issue.
Charges include the claim that the U.S. Government only labeled the area as a wildlife refuge in order to cut a deal on minimizing its own cleanup costs, which were originally estimated to be $37 Billion spent over 70 years. The actual cleanup costs and time spent were only a fraction of those numbers, with below-ground contamination almost entirely left in-place.
Key leaders in both educating the public and pursuing contamination information that remains withheld by the U.S. Government include Dr. Leroy Brown, a Boulder scientist, retired FBI Special Agent Jon Lipsky, who led the FBI's raid of the Rocky Flats plant to investigate illegal plutonium burning and other environmental crimes and Wes McKinley, who was the foreman of the grand jury investigation into the operations at Rocky Flats and is today a Coloradao State Representative.
Lawsuits by downwind local residents against the Rocky Flats prime contractors over time, Dow Chemical and Rockwell International, have escalated in value to nearly $1 Billion due to a court-mandated annual interest rate. While the most recent award has been overturned on appeal, the case is expected to ultimately land in the U.S. Supreme Court. The contractors are indemnified for their liability by the U.S. Government.
In direct contention with stated plans for eventually granting public access to Rocky Flats, the area has been proposed as a permanent exclusion area in terms of human habitation by way of making it a nuclear guardianship.
Most recently, invasive weeds that are capable of bringing below-ground radioactive contamination—which was not required to be remediated as part of the so-called clean-up—have recently been described in local media as threatening the purpose for existence of the Rocky Flats "wildlife refuge."
Quotes:
National Wildlife Refuge
National Wildlife Refuge is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the world's premiere system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife and plants...
located approximately 16 miles (26 km) northwest of Denver, Colorado. The site was previously occupied by the Rocky Flats Plant
Rocky Flats Plant
The Rocky Flats Plant was a United States nuclear weapons production facility near Denver, Colorado that operated from 1952 to 1992. It was under the control of the United States Atomic Energy Commission until 1977, when it was replaced by the Department of Energy .-1950s:Following World War II,...
, a nuclear weapons production facility. Contaminated by plutonium
Plutonium
Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...
during plutonium fires and both uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
and plutonium ground leakage, there is no public access to the refuge at this time.
Vision
Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge is an expanse of grasslands, shrublands and wetlands, including rare xeric tallgrass prairie, where natural processes support a broad range of native wildlife. Working with others, the Refuge conserves the unique biotic communities and sustains wildlife populations at the interface of mountains and prairies on Colorado's Front RangeFront Range
The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the north-central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encountered moving west along the 40th parallel north across...
.
This stated vision is controversial, as plutonium, uranium and trans-uranic elements exist in the area from past nuclear weapons production.
History
The Rocky Flats site is 6240 acres (25.3 km²) located along the Front Range of Colorado at the intersection of Jefferson, Boulder, and Broomfield counties. The site lies on the former nuclear weapons production facility operated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Rocky Flats PlantRocky Flats Plant
The Rocky Flats Plant was a United States nuclear weapons production facility near Denver, Colorado that operated from 1952 to 1992. It was under the control of the United States Atomic Energy Commission until 1977, when it was replaced by the Department of Energy .-1950s:Following World War II,...
.
Plutonium "triggers," also called nuclear pits, were manufactured at the site for 40 years. The triggers were themselves nuclear-fission
Fission
Fission is a splitting of something into two parts.Fission may refer to:*In physics, nuclear fission is a process where a large atomic nucleus is split into two smaller particles....
bombs designed to implosively ignite fusion
Fusion
Fusion or synthesis, it refers to the connection of two or more distinct things/bodies:*Cell fusion, an event in the maturation of cells*Fusion cuisine, the combination of elements of various culinary traditions...
reactions in thermonuclear warheads. There were serious leaks from outside-stored drums of radioactive waste in the 1950s and 1960s that originated from spent lubricant used in plutonium milling .
Plutonium can spontaneously combust at room temperatures in air, and major plutonium-based fires at Rocky Flats in 1957 and 1969 were the most costly industrial incidents of their time. These two fires took years for immediate-area clean-up, and many other fires occurred as well. These fires spread plutonium throughout the northwest corridor of the Greater Denver area, reaching into downtown by way of prevailing winds. As plutonium has a 24,000-year half-life, nearly all of this contamination still exists in some form, and has been spread by the substantial (up to 80 mile-per-hour) winds that can frequent the Front Range
Front Range
The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the north-central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encountered moving west along the 40th parallel north across...
area at the base of the Rocky Mountains. Water and soil contamination was finally publicly reported in the 1970s, even though the leakage and fire-spread contamination had occurred many years earlier.
As reported in the press, "The 1980s were no better for the U.S. Department of Energy facility, culminating in a Federal Bureau of Investigation raid in 1989 that shut it down for multiple violations of U.S. anti-pollution laws."
Subsequent to substantial public protests over time, in 1992, the mission of the Rocky Flats site changed from weapons production to environmental cleanup and closure. Rocky Flats was declared as a Superfund
Superfund
Superfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 , a United States federal law designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances...
site, and most of the production facilities were removed in 1995. Radioactive contamination (plutonium, uranium, tritium and trans-uranic elements) was removed from the surface of the earth in the immediate area of the plant, but not removed from what is proposed to become a wildlife refuge. Contamination was also broadly left buried below-ground when it was found there in order to mitigate costs to the U.S. Government.
After the June 1989 FBI raid of the Rocky Flats Plant for investigation of environmental crimes, federal authorities used the subsequent grand jury investigation to gather evidence of wrongdoing and then sealed the record. The court allowed the Rocky Flats operators to withhold from the public data about the nature and extent of contamination on and off the site. In October 2006, DOE announced completion of the Rocky Flats “cleanup” without this information being available.
Under the Refuge Act, most of the 6240 acres (25.3 km²) Rocky Flats site may become a refuge, provided that certification from the United States Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
(EPA) is obtained and which asserts that the cleanup and closure have been completed.
Purpose
- Restoring and preserving native ecosystems.
- Providing habitat for, and population management of native plants and migratory and resident wildlife.
- Conserving threatened and endangered species.
- Providing opportunities for compatible scientific research
Goals
- Wildlife and habitat management: Provide a riparian community representative of historic flora and fauna in a high valley of the southern Rocky Mountains to provide habitat for migratory birds, mammals, and river-dependent species
- Public use, education and interpretation: Provide visitors and students high quality recreational, educational, and interpretive opportunities and foster an understanding and appreciation of the Refuge's xeric tallgrass prairie, upland shrub and wetland habitats; native wildlife; and the history of the site.
- Safety: Conduct operations and manage public access in accordance with the final Rocky Flats' cleanup decision documents to ensure the safety of the Refuge visitors, staff and neighbors.
- Effective and open communication: Conduct communication outreach efforts to raise public awareness about the Refuge programs.
- Working with others: Foster beneficial partnerships with individuals, government agencies, and NGOs to promote resource conservation.
- Refuge operations: Based on available funds, provide facilities and staff to fulfill the Refuge vision and purpose
Status
According to a July 21, 2011 Inspector General report from the U.S. Department of the Interior, "Status of the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge":- “The Refuge has sat idle since its establishment as the operation and maintenance of the Refuge remain unfunded.”
- “The maintenance that does occur at the Refuge is mainly performed by FWS (Fish and Wildlife Service) staff from the nearby Rocky Mountain Arsenal unit. Because the Refuge is not staffed, noxious weeds continue to spread and destroy the Refuge’s unique, native species.”
The Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) emphasizes both wildlife and habitat conservation along with moderate level of wildlife-dependent public use. Public access is currently prohibited due to concerns over the remaining contamination from plutonium and uranium.
Controversy
The government-claimed remediation of contamination by plutonium (a radioactive element with a 24,000 year half-lifeHalf-life
Half-life, abbreviated t½, is the period of time it takes for the amount of a substance undergoing decay to decrease by half. The name was originally used to describe a characteristic of unstable atoms , but it may apply to any quantity which follows a set-rate decay.The original term, dating to...
) and uranium created over decades of nuclear weapons production, fires and criticality
Criticality
Criticality may refer to:* Critical thinking in education* Critical reflection in adult education* Critical mass in nuclear reactions* Criticality accident* Criticality matrix* Nuclear Criticality Safety...
accidents at Rocky Flats remains a hotly contested issue.
Charges include the claim that the U.S. Government only labeled the area as a wildlife refuge in order to cut a deal on minimizing its own cleanup costs, which were originally estimated to be $37 Billion spent over 70 years. The actual cleanup costs and time spent were only a fraction of those numbers, with below-ground contamination almost entirely left in-place.
Key leaders in both educating the public and pursuing contamination information that remains withheld by the U.S. Government include Dr. Leroy Brown, a Boulder scientist, retired FBI Special Agent Jon Lipsky, who led the FBI's raid of the Rocky Flats plant to investigate illegal plutonium burning and other environmental crimes and Wes McKinley, who was the foreman of the grand jury investigation into the operations at Rocky Flats and is today a Coloradao State Representative.
Lawsuits by downwind local residents against the Rocky Flats prime contractors over time, Dow Chemical and Rockwell International, have escalated in value to nearly $1 Billion due to a court-mandated annual interest rate. While the most recent award has been overturned on appeal, the case is expected to ultimately land in the U.S. Supreme Court. The contractors are indemnified for their liability by the U.S. Government.
In direct contention with stated plans for eventually granting public access to Rocky Flats, the area has been proposed as a permanent exclusion area in terms of human habitation by way of making it a nuclear guardianship.
Most recently, invasive weeds that are capable of bringing below-ground radioactive contamination—which was not required to be remediated as part of the so-called clean-up—have recently been described in local media as threatening the purpose for existence of the Rocky Flats "wildlife refuge."
Quotes:
- "The inspector general overseeing the U.S. Interior Department issued a report (below) late last month warning that the 4,880-acre former nuclear-trigger factory is overrun with invasive weeds that could destroy the unique biology that served as the reason for establishing the refuge in the first place."
- "The invasive species raise the specter of nuclear contaminants spreading to surface water, the report says. But there isn’t enough money to eradicate the weeds, and even if there was, the contaminated ground may prove too dangerous for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to restore, the report cautions."