The 508-acre Lowry Landfill site is located near the intersection of Quincy Avenue and South Gun Club Road in Arapahoe County, 15 miles southeast of downtown Denver. The land was originally a part of the Lowry Bombing Range and was deeded to the City for the purpose of developing a regional landfill in the 1960's to accept waste produced by businesses and residents throughout the metro area. The Lowry Landfill is owned and was operated as a municipal and industrial waste disposal facility from 1964 until 1980 by the City and County of Denver. From 1980 to 1990, Waste Management of Colorado, Inc. operated the site for the City as a municipal solid waste facility. Due primarily to groundwater contamination emanating from the landfill mass, the landfill was declared a Superfund site and listed on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Priorities List in 1984.
In 1994, the EPA approved the Record of Decision by which the site remedy was determined. Since that time, the EPA and the entities responsible for remediating the site, which include the City and County of Denver and Waste Management of Colorado, Inc., have been investigating the site, evaluating environmental cleanup technologies, designing selected remedial elements, and implementing the various chosen remedy components.
The Division of Environmental Quality’s role is to manage the environmental remediation projects and on-going operation and maintenance at the site as a responsible party consistent with EPA's Record of Decision and the 2005 EPA Consent Decree.
In 2007, EPA issued the second five-year review for the site in which the agency concluded that the remedy is functioning as intended and is protective of human health and the environment. The next five year review will be issued in 2012.
For additional information please see the Lowry Landfill website at http://www.lowrylandfillinfo.com/.
Project Manager:
David Wilmoth, PE, PG
720-865-5438
email address:
Dave.Wilmoth@denvergov.org