The city of Broomfield, Colo., said this week no contractor will likely be selected to build a new stretch of bypass near the old Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant until questions are addressed over a soil sample showing the presence of plutonium in the right of way for the road.
The Broomfield City Council posted a notice on its website Sunday saying development of the roadway is on hold. The Jefferson Parkway Public Highway Authority told the state health department Aug. 16 of the sample taken on the right of way near Indiana Street within the former Rocky Flats property, now part of a federal wildlife refuge.
The 10-mile stretch of road planned by the highway authority would connect Golden and Broomfield, according to a Monday article in thedenverchannel.com. The parkway is a privately funded, publicly owned regional toll road that has been planned for decades around metropolitan Denver. Construction is targeted for 2020. The online article noted other localities, in addition to Broomfield, fund the road and the highway authority is not making any decisions until more tests are done.
Tests on the sample turned up a plutonium level of about five times a state standard to protect public health, said Jennifer Opila, director of the Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division within the state Department of Public Health and Environment.
Opila said last month more sampling and analysis are needed to determine if the soil sample is a fluke. The highway authority has taken about 250 samples since May in preparation for construction.
In addition, several advocacy groups have urged the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to prepare an environmental assessment for its March 2018 decision to reconfigure nearby hiking and biking trails within the Rocky Flats Wildlife Refuge. “This sampling result raises questions about the Environmental Protection Agency’s determination of safety at Rocky Flats,” said attorney Randall Weiner, who represents plaintiffs such as the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, said in a press release.
The Rocky Flats plant made plutonium pits for nuclear weapons before closing in 1992. The Energy Department certified it as fully remediated in December 2005.
