RETURN TO USE INITIATIVE
2010 Demonstration Project
ROCKY MOUNTAIN ARSENAL
Commerce City, Colorado
HE SI E: The Rocky Mountain Arsenal (RMA)
Site is located 10 miles northeast of downtown
Denver, Colorado, adjacent to Commerce City and
Brighton to the north, Montbello to the south, Denver
International Airport to the east, and Commerce City
to the west. The original 17,000-acre Site is bordered
by residential homes to the north, south and west
and residential and business development is rapidly
growing in these areas, particularly in the north. The
Army established the Rocky Mountain Arsenal (RMA)
in 1942 to manufacture chemical weapons. After World
War 111, the Army leased parts of the Arsenal to private
industry. The Army and private chemical manufacturers
disposed of liquid wastes in basins and trenches,
which leaked and contaminated ground water. Since
1982, the Army, Shell Oil, the State of Colorado and
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have
been involved in enforcement and legal actions to
ensure the cleanup of the Arsenal. EPA added the
Site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1987. Five
years later, in 1992, Congress passed a Refuge Act
designating the transfer of cleaned up RMA lands for
use as a wildlife refuge. Final cleanup is expected to
be completed in 2011.
THE OPPORTUNITY: EPA has done four partial
deletions at the Site, removing portions of the Site that
have been cleaned up and are no longer contaminated
from the NPL. In 2003, the Western Tier Parcel was
deleted and sold to Commerce City. Proceeds were
given to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
to construct a new visitor center for the wildlife refuge.
Commercial and municipal development has occurred
on that parcel, including the Colorado Rapids soccer
stadium, a county high school and county offices.
In 2004, two partial deletions provided land for road
expansions in Commerce City and Denver, and
BARRIER: Stigma affecting expansion of residential and
commercial development adjacent to the Site
SOLUTION: A Ready for Reuse Determination stating that
a portion of the Site is ready for residential use and will remain
protective of human health and the environment as long as
remedy conditions are maintained
PICTURED: Former chemical weapons manufacturing facility
(Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
PICTURED: Fishing at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National
Wildlife Refuge (Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
BEFORE: Cleaned-up parcel with market uncertainty about its
environmental condition
AFTER: Property designated as protective adjacent to
expanding residential and commercial development
SEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Superfund Redevelopment Initiative
Updated: June 2010 1

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approximately 5,000 acres were deeded to the USFWS for the wildlife refuge. In 2006, another 7,000
acres were deleted and added to the wildlife refuge.
THE BARRIER: While commercial and residential development have occurred along the western
and northern edges of the RMA Site, the developers of nearby properties remained concerned about
stigma associated with the Site.
THE SOLUTION: On September 3, 2009 EPA issued a Ready for Reuse determination (RfR)
(http://www.epa.aov/reaion8/superfund/co/rkvmtnarsenal/Final RfR ShellPropertv.pdf) for 294 acres
along the northern edge of the Site. This RfR determination explains that EPA made a technical
determination that the surface of the property, located in Commerce City, is ready for residential use
and will remain protective of human health and the environment, subject to operation and maintenance
of the remedies. The document also reiterates the limitations to Site use, as specified in the Record of
Decision, including institutional controls preventing the use of ground water, and continued access to
the ground water monitoring network. EPA proposed a fifth partial deletion on June 17, 2010.
THE SITE NOW: "EPA's partnership with the Army, the Colorado Department of Health, the Fish and
Wildlife Service and Shell Oil has led to the creation of nearly 14,700 acres of National Wildlife Refuge
land, approximately 10 miles northeast of downtown Denver," said Russ Leclerc. the Federal Facilities
Program's Ecosystems, Protection and Remediation Program Director. "It's wonderful knowing that this
property will serve as a beneficial use area and wildlife habitat into perpetuity."
While the weakened economy appears to have slowed development in the area, the 294-acre portion
of the RMA Site addressed by the RfR determination is ready to join the many public and private uses
of the cleaned up RMA properties.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Laura Williams, Remedial Project
Manager, at (303) 312-6660 or Williams.Iaura@epa.gov: or Frances Costanzi, Region 8 Superfund
Redevelopment Coordinator, at (303) 312-6571 or costanzi.frances@epa.aov.
United States
Environmental Protection
i Agency
Superfund Redevelopment Initiative
Updated: June 2010 2

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