Rocky Flats Plant
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Rocky Flats Plant
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July 1995
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| Location | Jefferson County, Colorado |
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| Nearest city | Arvada, Colorado |
| Coordinates | 39°53′N 105°12′W / 39.89°N 105.20°WCoordinates: 39°53′N 105°12′W / 39.89°N 105.20°W |
| Area | 175.8 acres (71.1 ha) |
| Built | 1952 |
| Built by | Austin Construction Co. |
| NRHP Reference # | 97000377 |
| Added to NRHP | May 19, 1997 |
The Rocky Flats Plant was a former nuclear weapons production facility in the western United States, near Denver, Colorado. Operated from 1952 to 1992, it was under the control of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), succeeded by the Department of Energy (DOE) in 1977.
Weapons production was temporarily halted in 1989 after EPA and FBI agents raided the facility. Operators of the plant later pleaded guilty to criminal violations of environmental law. At the time, the fine was one of the largest penalties ever in an environmental law case.
Cleanup began in the early 1990s, and the site achieved regulatory closure in 2006. The cleanup effort decommissioned and demolished over 800 structures; removed over 21 tons of weapons-grade material; removed over 1.3 million cubic meters of waste; and, treated more than 16 million gallons of water. Four groundwater treatment systems were also constructed. Today, the Rocky Flats Plant is gone. The site of the former facility consists of two distinct areas: (1) the "Central Operable Unit" (including the former industrial area), which remains off-limits to the public as a CERCLA "Superfund" site, owned and managed by the U.S. Department of Energy, and (2) the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, owned and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Refuge (also known as the "Peripheral Operable Unit") was determined to be suitable for unrestricted use. Every five years, the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment review environmental data to assess whether the remedy is functioning as intended. The last five-year review concluded the remedy is effective. The next five-year review will be produced in 2017.
Following World War II, the United States increased production of nuclear weapons. The AEC chose the Dow Chemical Company to manage the bomb production facility. A 4-square-mile (10 km2) site about 15 miles (25 km) northwest of Denver on a windy plateau called Rocky Flats was chosen for the facility. On July 10, 1951, ground was broken on the first building in the facility. Contemporary news reports stated that the site would not be used to produce nuclear bombs.
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