Rocky Flats - Facts at a Glance | Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

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.

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.