AF report on Lowry soil blasted

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Colorado
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
AF report on Lowry soil blasted
State rips findings that tainted land won't need cleanup
By Todd Hartman
March 4, 2004

An Air Force report released Wednesday concludes asbestos-contaminated
soil at the former Lowry Air Force Base poses "no imminent health risk"
and won't require cleanup, but state health regulators criticized the
findings as flawed.

In fact, some figures in the report show an unacceptable cancer risk for
future residents and construction workers on a 22-acre, still-to-
be-redeveloped parcel of the former base, said an official at the
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

"For the Air Force to say that this risk assessment confirms that no
additional soil needs to be removed is totally contrary to what the
Environmental Protection Agency and state health department consider an
acceptable cancer risk," said Jeff Edson, who regulates polluted federal
facilities for the state.

Tension over the new report marks the latest feud between Colorado and
the Air Force over the 1,866-acre site on the eastern fringe of Denver
and further clouds a redevelopment project long touted as a national
model for converting aging military facilities into urban-living
showcases.

The fight has also slowed redevelopment on the base, which has been
under way for a decade and is nearly 70 percent complete.

Some builders have demanded more environmental assurances from the Lowry
Redevelopment Authority - the quasi- public agency overseeing the base's
makeover.

The latest Air Force report will undoubtedly delay work in the
northwestern part of the neighborhood where asbestos has been found,
said Tom Markham, the LRA's executive director.

This article can be viewed at:
http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2702433,00.html

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