Toxic Site to Serve as Wildlife Refuge

D E N V E R, Dec. 9 -- Federal regulators once described the Rocky Mountain Arsenal as the "most polluted square mile in the United States." Today it looks like a menagerie.

Nearly 300 animal species can be found roaming across the site of the former chemical weapons plant. The land, which is actually 17,000 acres (27 square miles), was declared a Superfund hazardous waste cleanup site a decade ago and will soon be converted into a wildlife refuge.

"It's going to be a real opportunity for us to reach out to a big urban population and give them the chance to experience and learn about wild places and wild things," said Dean Rundle, a biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agency.

When questioned about the highly toxic chemicals manufactured first by the Army and later by Shell Chemical Co., which produced pesticides including DDT, Rundle said he was satisfied the cleanup process had mitigated the threat.

"The animals are telling us that that's been successful, " he said. "We're not seeing mortality caused by pesticide poisoning anymore. We're seeing decreased contaminant loads in bird eggs as we do our monitoring."

Sierra Club Says Cleanup Still Dangerous

Others are less sanguine. The Sierra Club, the environmental watchdog organization, claims that the $2.2 billion cleanup is still a danger to both wildlife and those who visit the refuge, which is located about eight miles northeast of Denver. "They are not treating those chemicals. They're going to remain there, and they haven't treated the soil underneath those chemicals," said Dorothy Colagiovanni, a toxicologist hired by the group. "As those chemicals move through the soil layers, they're going to go into the ground water table and contaminate the ground water."

A recent tour of the site revealed bald eagles, deer, coyotes, geese and prairie dogs in abundance. But the pastoral setting could not erase the fact that the land once housed a major chemical manufacturing plant for the Army.

From 1942 to 1946, nerve gas, mustard gas, napalm and white phosphorous were produced. In the years that followed, Shell Chemical produced four different pesticides and herbicides at the facility.