AURORA | U.S. Rep. Jason Crow relayed concerns this week to the Environmental Protection Agency about proposed oil and gas fracking near the polluted site of the former Lowry Landfill next to Aurora.
The 500-plus-acre site east of E-470 was used by Denver as a dumping ground for sewage, garbage and industrial waste from the mid-1960s through 1990.
In the 1980s and ’90s, environmental testing overseen by the EPA found volatile organic compounds, heavy metals and other toxic chemicals permeating the soil and groundwater beneath the landfill, where hazardous materials had been deposited in unlined pits.
The landfill was added in 1984 to the EPA’s list of “Superfund” sites, which at the time included some of the most heavily contaminated properties in the nation.
The City and County of Denver and Waste Management of Colorado have since agreed to manage the cleanup of the site through a series of projects designed to limit the flow of chemicals into the ground and control the release of toxic gases into the air.
Those projects have included underground “barrier walls” designed to keep groundwater from moving into or out of the area beneath the former Lowry Landfill as well as ongoing water treatment and gas flaring operations.
At the same time, oil and gas producer Civitas Resources is seeking approval from the state to operate as many as 166 wells on 10 new or expanded well pads in the area of the landfill and Aurora Reservoir, prompting pushback from residents who fear nearby fracking could poison their drinking water.
Civitas officials restructured their plan to preclude drilling or fracking under the landfill site, but plans still include drilling far beneath the Aurora Reservoir, the Sentinel reported earlier this summer.
The proposal is still pending, and opponents have taken the opportunity of recent public meetings to speak out against the Lowry Ranch fracking plan.
In his July 15 letter, Crow described residents’ worries about oil and gas operations impacting the underground containment of pollutants at Lowry, asking the EPA’s regional director, KC Becker, what a “scientifically-based” buffer zone looks like around the former landfill.
“Local community members remain concerned over the lack of conclusive scientific review regarding an adequate seismic buffer zone to safeguard the (Lowry Landfill Superfund Site) remediation infrastructure,” Crow wrote.
The list of questions sent by Crow includes inquiries about the agency’s plans to test for and monitor the presence of specific chemicals such as 1,4-dioxane and PFAS compounds, how the agency will engage with local residents, and whether it will expand the boundaries of the Superfund site to incorporate an underground “plume” of tainted soil abutting Aurora’s Murphy Creek neighborhood.
The Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission is expected to consider the Lowry Ranch drilling and extraction plan July 30 and Aug. 2.
This is upsetting. The idea of a fracking company wanting to come to an area that is already contaminated should be illegal. It should not be an option. Thank you for making them come up with answers to this problem but it really isn’t an option.
Who owns that land? How could any government agency approve oil and gas fracking that close to residential areas to begin with? And fracking under a reservoir, a huge source of drinking water for the City of Aurora? That’s insane!!! Money, Money, Money seems to be the bottom line. This whole plan needs to be stopped, not just “barrier walls” put in place. Hopefully Rep. Crow can get that accomplished.
Bravo, Senator Crow. Thanks for caring & helping!