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Rocky Flats - Facts at a Glance

Overview

  • Site of a former United States nuclear weapons production facility.
  • Located northwest of Denver, Colorado.
  • Operated from 1951 to 1992 under the control of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, later the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
  • Production ended after the end of the Cold War.
  • Between 1992 and 2006, site investigated and cleaned up after years of releases to the environment.

Cleanup statistics

  • Decommissioned and demolished more than 800 structures.
  • Removed 21 tons of weapons-grade material.
  • Removed more than 1.3 million cubic meters of waste, including contaminated soil.
  • Treated more than 16 million gallons of water.
  • Constructed four groundwater treatment systems.
  • Regulatory closure in 2006.
  • Record of decision signed by Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
  • Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has regulatory oversight over the Department of Energy's site core remedy monitoring and maintenance.
  • Former security buffer zone outside the main portion of Rocky Flats did not require remediation.
    • This land was transferred to the U.S. Fish &, Wildlife Service in 2007 now known as the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge.