[CPEO-MEF] Colorado seeks compensation at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal

[Lenny Siegel <lennysiegel@gmail.com>]

NEWS RELEASE
Colorado Departments of Law and Public Health and Environment

FOR RELEASE ON: October 29, 2007

REPORT DETAILS ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE AT ROCKY MOUNTAIN ARSENAL
Colorado Attorney General seeking compensation from Shell, U.S. Army

(DENVER) - Colorado Attorney General John W. Suthers today released a 
Natural Resource Damage Assessment Plan (NRDA) detailing past and 
ongoing environmental damages caused by chemical production at the Rocky 
Mountain Arsenal. The NRDA found significant harms to environmental 
resources on and off the Arsenal site, most notably contaminated 
groundwater and injured wildlife. The document can be downloaded at 
http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/hm/rmaplan.htm.

The assessment provides the basis of a legal claim to recover damages 
for environmental harms should the parties be unable to settle the 
claim. Although cleanup actions at the Arsenal are scheduled to be 
completed in 2010, the report notes contamination will remain on the 
site and in the surrounding areas for decades, at least. The NRDA was 
prepared on behalf of the three State natural resource trustees, the 
Attorney General, and designated representatives from the Colorado 
Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and the Department 
of Natural Resources (DNR).

"Over the last quarter century, we have worked with Shell and the Army 
to cleanup the Arsenal and make it a wildlife refuge for the benefit of 
Coloradans," said Attorney General Suthers. "However, the law entitles 
the citizens of this state to fair compensation for past and ongoing 
harm to our environment. It is our job to ensure Coloradans are 
reimbursed for the natural resource damages caused by Shell Oil and the 
federal government."

CDPHE executive director Jim Martin, one of Colorado's three 
natural-resource damages trustees, concurred: "Although we applaud the 
clean-up work that Shell and the Army have completed on Arsenal so far, 
that effort merely reduces additional harm to our environment, however, 
harm remains. Plus, our citizens are entitled to fair compensation for 
wildlife deaths and other losses over the years. Wildlife, habitat and 
groundwater are among the injured resources for which Coloradans are 
owed fair compensation."

"While the site has been designated a wildlife refuge, the historic use 
of the land for chemical manufacturing has resulted in significant 
impacts on wildlife and habitat," commented Ron Cattany, the Department 
of Natural Resources' Trustee. "Coupled with the contamination of scarce 
water resources on the arid plains, adequate compensation to the 
citizens of the state is an imperative, not an option."

The NRDA concludes that Shell Oil released an estimated 150,112 tons of 
contaminants into Colorado's environment. The Army is alleged to be 
responsible for another 26,405 tons. From 1942 through the 1970s, the 
federal government used the Arsenal to produce, and later demilitarize, 
chemical weapons such as mustard agent and nerve gas. Shell Oil Company 
used the property from 1952 to 1982 to produce a variety of pesticides, 
including the carcinogenic neurotoxins aldrin and dieldrin.

Superfund, the same federal law that required Shell Oil and the Army to 
cleanup the contamination, also requires them to pay for natural 
resource damages. Superfund's cleanup provisions aim to protect public 
health and the environment from future harm, while the natural resource 
damage provisions address the fact that once a resource has been 
contaminated, the loss to the public continues until and unless the 
resource is completely restored.

Officials from the Colorado Attorney General's Office, CDPHE, and DNR 
have been working for several months with representatives from Shell Oil 
and the federal government to resolve the case. If settlement 
negotiations are unsuccessful, the State is prepared to pursue legal 
action to recover natural resource damages based on the NRDA. Any 
recoveries gained through litigation or settlement will be used to 
replace, restore or acquire similar natural resources, through projects 
such as parts of the Northeast Greenway Corridor initiative.

The assessment plan will be available for review and comment by the 
public during the next 30 days, and the State will seek public input 
throughout the assessment process.

"Perhaps more than any other asset, the State of Colorado is known for 
its breathtaking natural beauty and environment," concluded Attorney 
General Suthers. "This study is an important step in returning 
Colorado's great outdoors to Coloradans. I am hopeful that the state's 
claim can be resolved in the near future."

Groundwater injury. Although groundwater contamination has been reduced 
through treatment efforts, the NRDA estimates that water in and around 
the Arsenal may never be fully clean. Approximately 52,500 acre- feet of 
alluvial groundwater - water found near the soil surface - is unusable 
for human consumption. If not unavailable, that quantity would otherwise 
be large enough to provide water for every household in Commerce City 
for more than seven years. The NRDA estimates that 1.89 million 
acre-feet of deep groundwater are undrinkable, due to restrictions 
imposed as part of the Superfund cleanup. That amount of water would be 
sufficient to meet the needs of every household in the Centennial State 
for one year.

The primary causes of groundwater contamination include seepage from 
several evaporative waste basins, leaky tanks and pipes, and numerous 
chemical spills. Arsenal basins A, B, C, D, and E, which collectively 
covered 243 acres, were not lined and allowed waste to percolate 
directly into the water table. Basin F, which was covered with a porous, 
3/8-inch asphalt lining, covered 93 acres and held as much as 
240-million gallons of contaminated liquid.

Several chemical spills and tank leakages were recorded on the Arsenal 
site, including:
* 100,000 gallons of benzene in 1947
* 17,000 gallons of Dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) in 1963
* 1,548 gallons of DCPD and oil in 1976
* 58,864 gallons of DCPD in 1978
* More than 87,000 gallons of other solvents, pesticides, and metals.

Drinking liquid containing high levels of benzene can cause vomiting, 
dizziness, convulsions, rapid heart rate, and death. Prolonged exposure 
can damage bone marrow, decrease red blood cells, and injure the immune 
system. Exposure to DCPD can adversely affect the human nervous system 
and liver.

The primary contaminant at the Arsenal, however, is dieldrin, which was 
found to be widespread in soils, groundwater, and wildlife tissue. 
Dieldrin was one of many pesticides manufactured by Shell Oil at the 
Arsenal. The pesticide was banned by the EPA in 1987, and exposure has 
been linked to cancer and found to accelerate Parkinson's disease.

Wildlife injuries. The NRDA found severe injuries to area wildlife, for 
which Coloradans also are entitled to compensation. The U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service estimates at least 20,000 ducks died in a 10-year span 
at the Arsenal, and during the 1970s, hundreds of dead waterfowl were 
found each day around the Arsenal's four lakes. Mallard carcasses found 
onsite contained up to 15 times the acceptable level of dieldrin.

In addition to tens-of-thousands of birds, many mammals - such as 
prairie dogs and badgers - also fell victim to the deadly chemicals 
manufactured onsite. Still other species may have suffered reduced 
reproduction rates or chemically induced paralysis and birth defects.

###

Additional media resources:

Map of estimated extent of a combined contaminant plume 
(trichloroethylene, benzene, chloroform, dibromochloropropane, and 
dieldrin) in the shallow alluvial aquifer 
http://www.ago.state.co.us/PR/Comm/1.jpg

Map of extent of detectable diisopropyl methylphosphonate (DIMP) in 
shallow groundwater in 1994, according to USGS 
http://www.ago.state.co.us/PR/Comm/2.jpg

Map of estimated extent of the combined contaminant plume (Figure 5.10) 
and a combined DIMP and chloride plume 
http://www.ago.state.co.us/PR/Comm/3.jpg

Examples of the distance that communities near the Arsenal have gone to 
obtain reliable water supplies http://www.ago.state.co.us/PR/Comm/4.jpg

Map of wells near the Arsenal owned by municipal water suppliers 
http://www.ago.state.co.us/PR/Comm/5.jpg

Map of complainants noting persistent noxious odors during the Basin F 
interim response action http://www.ago.state.co.us/PR/Comm/6.jpg

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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