RESPONSE LETTER FROM EPA
UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
REGION 8 1595 Wynkoop Street DENVER, CO 80202-1129
Phone 800-227-8917 http://www.epa.gov/region08
Dear Mr. Moore:
On behalf of EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, thank you for your letter dated March 5, 2010, regarding the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge site. The remediation of Rocky Flats was lengthy and very complex. Your concern regarding respirable dust at the site was shared by many stakeholders, including EPA. As you are aware, when the site was active and during active remediation and soil disturbance at the site, thousands of samples were collected to monitor for airborne dust. The methods EPA used for data analysis met regulatory requirements, and did account for respirable-size particles. In addition to this monitoring, EPA performed individual close-in building and project specific monitoring on all major buildings and some minor buildings at the site during demolition. The cumulative analytic results show no exceedances of regulatory standards.
Monitoring and maintenance of the site continue under the Rocky Flats Legacy Management Agreement. Since the Record of Decision (ROD) was signed in 2005, well over a thousand soil, water and air samples have been collected, with no exceedances of standards at any points of compliance. The absence of plutonium above regulatory standards confirms that plutonium is not migrating at the site. Results are reported quarterly and annually and are available at http://www.lm.doe.gov/Rocky_Flats/Documents.aspx. This and all other information, current and past, is readily available to the public on the Department of Energy (DOE) Legacy Management website.
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) requires periodic reviews of the remedy at least every five years. The next such review for the Rocky Flats site is due in September 2012. Nevertheless, EPA and the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment continue to review the site operations and monitoring activities on a monthly basis.
In 2007 DOE transferred approximately 4400 acres of land to the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). This land had not previously been used for industrial operations and was known as the “buffer zone”. This area was extensively characterized with thousands of samples, and no exceedances of standards were detected. All investigations and sampling results pertaining to the refuge area are reported and summarized in the RCRA Facility Investigation-Remedial Investigation/Corrective Measures Study-Feasibility Study Report, which can be found at http://www.lm.doe.gov/Rocky_Flats/Regulations.aspx#RIFS.
In 2004, the USFWS performed an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) titled the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Impact Statement, which can be found at http://www.fws.gov/rockyflats/overview.htm. This EIS proposed that the area become a National Wildlife Refuge upon certification from the EPA that cleanup and closure had been completed. On May 25, 2007, EPA announced the deletion of the Off Site Area Operable Unit (OU) 3 and the Peripheral Operable Unit OU2 totaling 25,423 acres of the Rocky Flats site from the National Priorities List. The certification of completion was sent to the USFWS on June 11, 2007, thereby certifying that the intended public uses for the refuge lands were appropriate.
You inquired whether a cleanup EIS would have produced a different outcome. The CERCLA process served as the functional equivalent of an EIS for the cleanup, and as noted above, the USFWS performed an EIS for the transition of the site to a wildlife refuge. We remain confident that the appropriate remedies were selected and implemented.
Finally, in response to your concerns about the manner in which EPA performs risk assessments, please note that EPA's risk assessments are based on conservative risk factors supported by the best scientific evidence available. Based on the extensive data gathered since the ROD was signed, we are confident that the remedy is protective and is operating as designed to protect public health and the environment.
Thank you for your continued interest in Rocky Flats. Should you have further questions, the person on my staff most knowledgeable about the Rocky Flats site is Vera Moritz, and she can be reached at 303-312-6981.
Sincerely,
Carol Rushin, Acting Regional Administrator
Cc: Bob Perciasepe, Deputy Administrator, Robert Sussman, Senior Policy Advisor, Gina McCarthy, Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation, Mathy Stanislaus, Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and Emergency Response, Martha E. Rudolph, Executive Director, CDPHE, Brigid Lowery, OSWER-CPA, Kecia Thorton, OSWER, Michelle Crews, OSWER, OAR – Office of Air and Radiation – Immediate Office, OSWER – OSWER – Immediate Office, Mark Udall, U.S. Senate, Michael Bennet, U.S. Senate, Jared Polis, U.S. House of Representatives, Will Shafroth, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Steve Berendsen, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Jon Lipsky, Wes McKinley, Carl Spreng, CDPHE, Bbc: Carol Campbell, EPA, Eddie Sierra, EPA, Martin Hestmark, EPA, Michael Risner, EPA, Russ Leclerc, EPA, Lorraine Ross, EPA, Vera Moritz, EPA
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