Polis Can't Stop The Rock: Former Nuclear Facility Open To Public

Photo Credit: Mito Images/Shutterstock

Photo Credit: Mito Images/Shutterstock

JEFFERSON COUNTY, CO - Despite a flurry of yes-no waffling that would have made Hamlet proud, a plea from Boulder's congressman, and one sentinel standing watch in a gas mask, the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons production site opened to the public for the first time this weekend. Ahead of the opening, U.S. Rep Jared Polis sent a letter to the federal government asking to delay then entry of recreationists into the now-wildlife refuge. "When it comes to the health and safety of Coloradans, we should always err on the side of caution," said Polis in a statement. "The opening of the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge should only happen after air, water, and soil testing is completed in the area maintained by the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife and everything is determined to be safe."

Eager hikers and bikers held their collective breath on Friday when local news organizations received a statement from the U.S Department of Interior that it had decided to delay the opening "to gather more information," reported 9News. Just minutes later, the same department issued a second statement saying that the opening was back on after a review by a deputy secretary David Bernhardt. "It's unclear exactly how long his review lasted," wrote 9News.

The opening has been the source of increasing controversy over the last few months. At the end of July, Daily Camera Editorial Page Editor Quentin Young penned an editorial entitled, "Do Not Open Rocky Flats to Public." Young concluded his analysis of studies concerning the area's safety for humans by saying, "It's easy to understand why government officials are anxious to see the refuge put to recreational use. If people are barred from the property due to radioactive contamination, then the refuge amounts to a monstrous tract of blight in the middle of the west Denver suburbs. But health and safety must supersede the urge to veil risks at Rocky Flats, and the only way to ensure safety is to scrap plans for recreation at the refuge."

On the other side, in a guest post for the Colorado Independent this week, Paul Karolyi, host of the Changing Denver podcast - a series devoted to unpacking the history behind the Rocky Flats project - wrote about why he would go hiking there. "There is an overwhelming scientific consensus that the levels of residual contamination at the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge pose an extremely small, yet very present risk," wrote Karolyi. "The radionuclides remaining in the soil are not significant enough to deliver dangerous doses of radiation, and the risk of getting cancer from inhaling or otherwise taking in a 'hot particle' is very low."

Those who hit the trails this weekend were largely willing to take on the risk. "Not everyone is afraid of radioactive material, and that's why a lot of us are here today," Lyons resident and biker Jerry Jacks told the Denver Post. Nonetheless, the Post reported, one man stood watch over the trailhead, clad in a gas mask, warning visitors of danger with handmade signs. "Inhaling a single microscopic particle could cut your life in half,” Stephen Parlapo told that paper. “I’m here to alert people to the danger they are facing.”

Read the Denver Post's complete coverage of the opening

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Photo Credit: Mito Images/Shutterstock