ACTION ALERT:

On Monday September 23rd, Westminster City Council will vote regarding their participation in the Rocky Mountain Greenway project. The Rocky Mountain Greenway is a proposed mountain biking trail, intended to encircle Rocky Flats, one of the most contaminated former nuclear weapons sites in the nation. Due to the public health risks, we are asking Westminster City Council to halt construction and withdraw from the Rocky Mountain Greenway.

What: Westminster City Council Meeting RE: Participation in the Rocky Mountain Greenway

When: Monday September 23rd at 7:00pm (sign-up for public comment from 6-7pm)

Where: Westminster City Hall Chambers 4800 W. 92nd Ave., Westminster, CO 80031

On Monday, 7/15/2024, Westminster City Council held a Study Session with a panel of experts presenting on the Rocky Mountain Greenway, a mountain biking trail encircling the most contaminated part of Rocky Flats, a former plutonium bomb plant west of Westminster.

The following local leaders, scientific experts, and public health advocates gave presentations warning the council about the risks of moving forward with the project:

• Jon Lipsky, MAS and FBI Retired
• Dr. Michael Ketterer, Professor Emeritus at Northern Arizona University
• Dr. Deborah Segaloff, Physicians for Social Responsibility
• Dr. Sasha Stiles, MD MPH
• Diane D’Arrigo, Radioactive Waste Project Director at NIRS
• Randy Stafford, Rocky Flats Public Health Advocates

You can check out the meeting recording and slide presentation:

• View Part 1 of the Study Session Here
• View Part 2 of the Study Session Here
• View the Slide Presentation Here

The study session received the following media coverage:

• CBS4
• Denver Post
• Daily Camera (Made front page!!)
• Denver7
• KGNU
• 9 News Denver
• Local Community Media Newspapers (Including Westminster)

Rocky Flats, which borders Boulder, Superior, Westminster, Arvada, Denver, and Golden, was once a nuclear weapons plant that produced 70,000 plutonium pits for nuclear bombs between 1952 and 1989. The site was shut down in 1989 after an FBI raid found severe environmental violations. To this day, the site remains heavily contaminated.

Full cleanup of the site was supposed to cost $36.6 billion and take 65 years, but the "partial cleanup" totaled $7 billion and ended in 2005. Recent studies show that the site is still widely contaminated with plutonium and other radioactive contaminants. Although the land at the center of Rocky Flats is still listed as an EPA Superfund site, city governments have been tasked (through a Federal Lands Access Program Grant) to support the construction of a mountain biking trail circling the perimeter of the most contaminated part of the nuclear site.

Due to public health concerns, the Town of Superior and Broomfield have already withdrawn from the project. Now we are asking Westminster City Council to join in solidarity.

Westminster City Council has some authority over the Indiana Street Overpass and its connection to Westminster Hills Open Space. This is the most contaminated portion of the trail and therefore the highest priority to halt construction.

Please send a 1-click letter to the Westminster City Council today, urging the Council to halt construction and withdraw from the Rocky Mountain Greenway.