During rocky flats closure, 7,200 onsite surface soil locations were sampled for numerous analytes such as radionuclides, metals, volatile organic compounds, pcbs, and other constituents. During the last few years, many articles have appeared in newspapers and journals concerning radioactive contamination around rocky flats. Weapons production was permanently halted in 1989 after years of protests followed by a combined raid of over 70 armed agents from the fbi and environmental. Rocky flats, colorado, site fact sheet office of legacy.
Despite radioactive contamination remaining underground at the rocky flats aecdoe site, the u. Review of potential radiation doses during construction of. The drums were removed in 1967 and 1968, and an asphalt pad was installed to control the spread of contamination. With respect to identifying areas ofpotential releases atrocky flats, beginning in1992, a comprehensive summary ofhistorical information on environmental releases at rocky flats was prepared. Rocky flats plant site environmental report international nuclear.
Under the act, the site would be handed off from the department of energy to the u. State analyzing soil sample showing elevated levels of. Page 1 of 5 2918 key points rocky flats was cleaned up and. Since cessation of production activities, the site has been involved in.
Rocky flats environmental technology site soils monitoring. Ssrl studies aid environmental cleanup at rocky flats. Rocky flats environmental technology site, a former nuclear weapons. List of figures continued figure page 44 conglomerate of stars formed in cr39 plastic detectors by natural alpha decay of plutonium, americium and other alpha emitters found in rocky flats soil contaminated with plutonium. Introduction in the late 1950s and 1960s, barrels of waste oil and solvents contaminated with plutonium and uranium were stored outdoors at the 903 area of the former rocky flats. A copy of a site location map is attached figure 1. They determined that some contamination in surface water drainage and runoff from rocky flats flowed into.
By 1978 it was well known that soil around and downwind of the rocky flats plant had been contaminated with pu and am as a result of unreliable waste storage practices. Most rocky flats structures are located within the industrialized area of rocky flats, which. Nearly 40 years of nuclear weapons production left behind contaminated facilities, soils, and surface and ground water. Rocky flats was placed on the cercla national priorities list npl in 1989. Under the refuge act, rfets will become the rocky flats national wildlife refuge refuge after remediation and closure of rfets is. One rocky flats building called the most dangerous in america. Flood raises questions at rocky flats boulder weekly. Aecdoe nuclear weapons production facility about 15 miles. A national priority 1989 epa put rocky flats on the national priorities list why.
Oct 10, 20 and finally, critics of the governments remediation of rocky flats, including the rocky mountain peace and justice center, claim that plutonium contamination well above normal background levels can still be found in the surface soils at rocky flats in widespread locations across the area, including, according to tests commissioned by rmpj in. Setting cleanup standards to protect future generations. Two autoradiographic methods were used in radionuclide mapping. Soil action levels were originally established in 1996 and were substantially revised in 2003. Technical summary report for the historical public. For most of its history, the site was called the rocky flats plant rfp and was operated by dow chemical company as a nuclear weapons production, research, and development facility. Soil around rocky flats tested for radiation cbs denver. This section summarizes the remedial investigation ri portion of the rifs for the rocky flats environmental technology site rfets or site. Soil testing at rocky flats national wildlife refuge has turned up an elevated level of plutonium in one sample. The am241 activity in the soil will reach its maximum in 2033 and represent 18 percent of the pu239240 activity.
Multiagency radiation survey and site investigation manual mremyear. The researchers found that the public was exposed to contaminants from rocky flats primarily through breathing the air. The 2003 soil action levels also included specific soil action levels for ecological receptors. The radioactive contamination may have spread into the ground. In the environmental area, rocky flats has two costly environmental problemsgroundwater contamination and numerous inactive waste sites. In order to determine the physical location of contaminants in soil, two solidified soil thin sections, which preserve the undisturbed structural characteristics of the original soil, containing weaponsgrade plutonium from the rocky flats environmental test site were prepared. Rocky flats property has been described as turning weapons into wildlife. Nearly all of the samples of plant material grown in rocky flats contaminated soils exhibited. Limited subsurface soil areas contaminated with nitrates, uranium, and vocs that contribute contaminants to groundwater, which may affect surface water quality. The rocky flats national wildlife refuge act of 2001. Remote plutonium contamination and total inventories from rocky. May 12, 2016 much like the specter of nuclear contamination, litigation continues to haunt rocky flats. Radionuclide soil action levels at rocky flats background rocky flats operated from 1952 1992 as a manufacturing facility for the production of component parts for nuclear weapons, including plutonium pits, the fissionable core of such weapons.
Rocky flats environmental technology site verification plan 1. The fires, illegal storage and illegal burning of nuclear waste at rocky flats is not a problem of the past, although the cdphe would have us thinking that is the case. The study area was centered on the primary plume of plutonium contamination in the area. The area around the rocky flats plant has been studied over many years because it was contaminated with transuranic elements during its operation. A little background on rocky flats data an excellent and accessible 5 overview was prepared in system admins.
Abstract soils east of rocky flats plant rtf near golden, co, are contaminated with u as a result of past waste. An unnatural history of rocky flats national wildlife. Oct 04, 2019 assuming the concentration of plutonium in the soil at rocky flats wildlife refuge is 1. The nature and extent of soil contamination for the entire rocky flats site, which includes the central and peripheral operable units, was fully evaluated in the remedial investigation corrective measures study feasibility study report for the rocky flats environmental technology site rifs, dated june 2006. Energys rocky flats closure project for about 40 years, the department of energys rocky flats site, near denver, served as a production facility that made plutonium triggers, or pits, for nuclear weapons.
Weeds grew through the badly corroded bottoms of these barrels. Jul 03, 2019 for the first time in years, the soil in and around the former rocky flats nuclear weapons site is being tested for radiation. We reported on these problems in september 1986, yet the full scope and severity of the problems still remain unknown. According to the rocky flats national wildlife refuge act of 2001, the land transferred from doe to the us fish and wildlife. Department of energy doe used the rocky flats site to process and store plutonium, manufacture components for nuclear.
The rocky flats environmental technology site is owned by the u. Department of energy office of legacy management under the comprehensive environmental response, compensation, and liability act. Plaintiff candelas glows rocky flats glows is committed to raising. For more information, please visit cdphes rocky flats website. Rocky flats site prior to final cleanup june 1995 the final remedy was selected in the september 29, 2006.
The evaluation used more than 220,000 results to determine the nature and extent of surface soil contamination. Operable unit 3 offsite areas rocky flats stewardship council. Verify, with reasonable certainty, that all radioactively contaminated surface soil beyond the known and suspected release sites has been identified and appropriately dispositioned under rfca. Previous studies identified considerable contamination of the soil. Heres what you should know about radiation at rocky flats. Interior for the purposes of establishing the rocky flats national wildlife refuge refuge. Data from onsite monitoring wells at rocky flats show areas of groundwater contaminated with elevated radioactivity, nitrates and volatile. Radioactive contamination from the rocky flats plant wikipedia. Rocky flats area still as contaminated with plutonium. The plutoium contamination at rocky flats is a current problem and a future problem. That role resulted in radiological and chemical contamination of many of the sites buildings and its soil and water. That role resulted in radiological and chemical contamination of many of the sites buildings and its soil. There are two toxic landfills within the core site and. Assessing risks living near rocky flats sandra bornstein.
Sep 06, 2019 fortyeight soil samples taken inside the rocky flats national wildlife refuge in june revealed no elevated levels of plutonium, according to results released by officials at the u. Uranium isotopes distribution in soils at the rocky flats plant. United states government accountability office washington. This information was shared with the public and cdphe. Under the rocky flats national wildlife refuge act of 2001 p. Aecdoe nuclear weapons production facility about 15 miles 24 km northwest of denver whose principal role was the manufacture of plutonium pits for use as the primary stage in thermonuclear weapons. Department of energy office of legacy management rocky flats site 11025 dover st. New york operations office aec, ny health and safety lab, 1970. Surface soil contamination beyond the boundary of the rocky flats site. Introduction in the late 1950s and 1960s, barrels of waste oil and solvents contaminated with plutonium and uranium were stored outdoors at the 903 area of the former rocky flats nuclear weapons plant. Rocky flats citizens advisory board 43 rocky flats environmental technology site soils monitoring program.
O there is no indication of plant contamination of any off site groundwater drinking. Clarification of institutional controls at the rocky flats. Site information and history infosquare bookopen the former rocky flats plant was part of the nationwide nuclear weapons complex that manufactured nuclear. Lastly, i will address two ofthe major allegations made by the authors ofthebookconcerning therockyflatsgrand jury. This finding is independent of any interim uses for which specific sites, such as the plutonium contaminated rocky flats site near denver, may be designated. Flats environmental technology site rfets, rocky flats, or site pursuant to the rocky flats cleanup agreement rfca. Memorandum 1 rocky flats site background city of westminster.
Jul 27, 2020 michael ketterer, the rocky flats downwinders, and rocky mountain peace and justice center collected a select number of soil samples in the parkway transportation corridor. An unnatural history of rocky flats national wildlife refuge. The rsals were used in the cleanup effort to determine the level and method of soil mitigation necessary in radioactively contaminated areas. Rocky flats environmental technology site agency for toxic. Plutonium and americium contamination in rocky flats soil.
This map highlights areas on and off the rocky flats site that were contaminated with plutonium. The continuing surface water monitoring provides a direct measurement of soil contamination being transported in water. Dont use the citation link, only use the green hot link. In 2011, the rocky mountain peace and justice center hired marco kaltofen of the boston chemical data corp to perform soil tests along indiana street. Department of energy doe and is currently operated by the kaiserhill company. The 903 pad, established in 1958, was used as an outside storage field for drums containing plutonium contaminated cutting oil and carbon tetrachloride from machining operations.
Feb 18, 2012 the newly released results show the area is as contaminated by radioactive plutonium now as it was 40 years ago, before the rocky flats nuclear weapons plant, which operated on that site, was. The rocky flats environmental technology site is located approximately sixteen miles northwest of downtown denver, in northern jefferson county, colorado. Rocky flats national wildlife refuge proposed trail soil. New soil samples from inside rocky flats show low plutonium. Rocky flats site, colorado fact sheet department of energy. Doe found 61 pounds of plutonium in exhaust ductwork. The rocky flats site comprises about 6,500 acres of land located approximately 16. Section 3, showing the nature and extent of am241 soil contamination. Rocky flats done by risk assessment corporation for the radionuclide soil action. The nature and extent of contamination for the entire rocky flats site, which. Ssrl studies aid environmental cleanup at rocky flats david l. Remote plutonium contamination and total inventories from rocky flats.
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