The 508-acre Lowry Landfill site is located near the intersection of Quincy Avenue and Gun Club Road in Arapahoe County, 15 miles southeast of downtown Denver. The land was originally a part of the Lowry Bombing Range and was deeded to the City for the purpose of developing a regional landfill  in the 1960's to accept waste produced by businesses and residents throughout the metro area. Prior to this landfill, several smaller, privately-owned landfills existed in populated areas causing nuisance and public health concerns. The Lowry Landfill is owned and was operated as a municipal and industrial waste disposal facility from 1964 until 1980 by the City and County of Denver. From 1980 to 1990, Waste Management Inc. operated the site for the City as a municipal solid waste facility. Due primarily to contamination of the groundwater underlying the landfill mass, the landfill was declared a Superfund site and listed on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Priorities List in 1984.

The Lowry Landfill, like hundreds of pre-1980 municipal landfills nationwide, was operated in compliance with environmental regulations and in accordance with standard engineering practice at the time. Evidence that additional protective measures were needed at landfills did not become known until the mid to late 70’s. Consequently, across the country many of these older municipal landfills are Superfund sites.

In 1994, the EPA approved the Record of Decision by which the site remedy was determined. Since that time, the EPA and the entities responsible for remediating the site, which include the City and County of Denver and Waste Management Inc., have been investigating the site, evaluating environmental cleanup technologies, designing selected remedial elements, and implementing the various chosen remedy components.

For additional information please see the Lowry Landfill website at http://www.lowrylandfillinfo.com.