Site Assessment & Clean Up

In the late 1910s and early 1920s, some of the radium tailings were used to pave streets in the Capitol Hill and Ruby Hill areas.

Because the radium material is bound in and shielded by asphalt, EPA has determined that the streets pose a minimal danger to residents. In addition, the radium material put down decades ago has been overlaid a number of times with uncontaminated layers of asphalt. Currently the radium is only exposed during construction activities that require cutting the street, such as utility repair or replacement. The City has managed the contamination by requiring any project that disturbs more than 20 percent of a block will remove all contaminated material on the entire block. The 2007 reconstruction of Jason Street, Park Avenue West and 9th , Corona, and York Streets is a proactive effort to remove all contaminated material and replace it with uncontaminated asphalt.

The City has been actively managing the radium materials for many years. This effort requires annual training for City and utility workers and a significant financial commitment by the City. To ensure long term public health and safety, the City believes that removing the contaminated material will ensure better management of the material and allow future general maintenance activity to proceed with significant cost savings to the public.

For many years the City has managed numerous projects that removed this type of material. The asphalt will be removed in blocks that will be lifted from the street and placed into the transportation truck; the trucks are fitted with oversized liners that will contain and cover the asphalt for transportation to the waste facility. Air monitoring and radiation monitoring will be conducted throughout the process to ensure there are no releases of radioactive material. The City has never had a release of radioactive material inside or outside the work area related to this project.

As long as radium-impacted materials remain bound in asphalt there is no risk, unless the impacted materials become airborne, such as during utility and street maintenance activities. As a means of comparison, if an individual were to sit on a radium-impacted DRS street continually for eight hours per day for an entire year, they would be exposed to less than 8 % of the average Colorado resident radiation exposure.

For three years, Denver shipped the radium-streets waste to US Ecology’s facility in Idaho. The Colorado Department of Health & Environment (CDPHE) in the spring of 2006 licensed the Clean Harbors Deer Trail facility in eastern Adams County to accept the radium-streets waste, over the objections of the Adams County Commissioners. The Rocky Mountain Low-Level Radioactive Waste authorities (the Compact) have designated Clean Harbors as a regional disposal facility for disposal of the radium-impacted materials generated from the Denver Radium Superfund Site and required that any party generating waste from the Radium Site must dispose of it at the Clean Harbors facility unless the Compact grants the party an export license. The City plans on transporting all material in covered trucks to Deer Trail saving the City and County of Denver significant transportation costs. However as a back-up plan, should there be legal complications between Adams County and Clean Harbors, DEH has an agreement with both the Compact and US Ecology to obtain an emergency license allowing transportation and disposal of low-level radioactive waste in Idaho.

Fencing and 24-hour security will be used during periods when contaminated materials may be exposed. After the materials are completely removed and construction begins on replacing the asphalt, curb and gutter, standard construction practices will be used.

Impacts to residents will be minimized as much as possible. Where alleys exist, they will be maintained to provide access. Sidewalks will be left open during construction and the City will work with service providers such as waste disposal and emergency services to ensure that service will be maintained. On-street parking will not be available during construction.

Please continue to check this website for current project information and updates at www.denvergov.org/radium. There is also a 24-hour public information phone line available at 303-764-8899 (303-752-7021 for Jason Street information).

Denver’s Department of Environmental Health will reconstruct Corona Street (from 7th Avenue to 10th Avenue), 9th Avenue (from Ogden Street to Franklin Street), York Street (from 6th to 13th Avenue), and Park Avenue West (from California Street to Arapahoe Street). Should budget allow, Denver will proceed with the removal of waste and reconstruction of S Jason Street (between South Platte River Drive and Louisiana Avenue) in south-central Denver.

The asphalt will be removed in blocks that will be lifted from the street and placed into the transportation trucks. The trucks are fitted with oversized liners that will contain and cover the asphalt for transportation to the Deer Trail disposal site.

Please check our phone line and this website for updates; there will be parking restrictions, detours and 24-hour security.

Our contractor will take all necessary measures to protect the public and the environment in accordance to all Federal, State and local requirements. Outside the work area for this project, there are no health/safety issues.

Yes, there will be detours, parking restrictions, and closures and the contractor is required to coordinate this. The contractor will be communicating with the adjacent properties and there is a web site and phone line to keep people informed. Updates will be posted on this website and a 24-hour public information line is available at 303-764-8899 (303-752-7021 for Jason Street information).

Yes.

There were a total of ten streets that contain radium-contaminated materials. Eight of the streets are located in the Cheesman Park area, one is in upper downtown (23rd Street/Park Avenue West), and one in south-central Denver (Jason Street). These are the last of the Denver streets to be cleaned up.

Per the current DEH plan, all streets containing radium-impacted materials will be cleaned by 2008 and the City and County of Denver will request that the Denver Radium Streets be removed from federal designation as a Superfund Site. These are the last Denver streets to be cleaned up.

This project is not funded with tax money. The source of funding is revenue generated from the Solid Waste Users Fee imposed at the Denver-Arapahoe Disposal Site (DADS) landfill.

The Shattuck site and the Denver Radium Streets are part of the Federally-designated Superfund site called the Denver Radium Superfund Site.

On approximately May 15th, 2007, Denver’s Department of Environmental Health will begin the reconstruction on Park Avenue West (from Arapahoe Street to California Street) and York Street.

The reconstruction of Corona Street (from 7th Avenue to 10th Ave.) and 9th Avenue (from Franklin Street to Ogden Street) will begin in the summer of 2007 after Moore Elementary school closes for the summer.

The reconstructiion of Jason Street will begin on September 10th, 2007 through mid-December.

Check for further information and updates on this web site www.denvergov.org/radium or by calling 303-764-8899 (303-752-7021 for Jason Street information).

The City and County of Denver requires annual training for City and utility workers that work on any radium streets. This requires a minimum training for City staff of 40 hours plus contractors must have qualified staff and a Health and Safety Officer with extensive training.

Regarding your question of why did the City decide to do this now, the City and County of Denver has managed numerous projects that removed this type of material. To ensure long term public health and safety, the City believes that removing the contaminated material will ensure better management of the material and allow future general maintenance activity to proceed with significant cost savings to the public.

The City and County of Denver is pleased to be undertaking this project to clean up Denver’s contaminated streets. For further information please call the 24-hour information line at 303-764-8899 (303-752-7021 for Jason Street information).

This project has followed an extensive public information process through the Mayor’s office, City Council, the Landmark Preservation Committee and public meetings. Denver is also proud to announce that these are the final streets to be reconstructed in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. Upon completion the radium streets in Capitol Hill will be fully cleaned up and no further action will be necessary. Upon completion of Jason Street the Denver radium streets will be fully cleaned up and no further action will be necessary.