The Vasquez Boulevard & Interstate 70 (VB/I-70) Superfund Site cleanup of residential soils has been a collaborative effort since it began. The work was a partnership among the U.S. EPA, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the Denver Department of Environmental Health, the community group CEASE, Inc., and many other federal, state, and local agencies, associations and residents.
In 1998, EPA began an investigation of potential metals contamination in an area that eventually included Cole, Clayton, Swansea, Elyria, and some parts of the Globeville and Curtis Park neighborhoods. This became the VB/I-70 Superfund Site.
Lead and arsenic were the two metals identified to be of potential concern in some yards. Based on the investigation, EPA issued its final cleanup decision in 2003. EPA then began removing and replacing soil in yards where sampling results showed more than 400 parts per million (ppm) for lead and/or 70 ppm for arsenic.
One of the more unique features of the site cleanup is the Community Health Program, which began in 2004, is administered by the Department of Environmental Health, and is scheduled to run through September 2007. The program, tailored to the local community and created in community partnership, included an external lead-based paint assessment and abatement component as well as an educational component for residents in the area. In the Community Health Program, residents of the affected neighborhoods train as community health workers and talk with their neighbors about environmental health issues, focusing on preventing childhood lead poisoning caused by exposure to lead paint and historically contaminated soils. Residents also receive education on soil pica behavior (the craving and eating of non-food items) and intervention referrals. During the years of 2005 and 2006, free lead and arsenic screening (biomonitoring) services were offered at sites in the community. Children with elevated levels received appropriate follow-up care.
The investigation and cleanup phases of lead and arsenic in residential soils in the VB/I-70 site were finished when EPA sampled and cleaned up the final yards of the project in August 2006. EPA is no longer offering soil sampling or cleanup to area property owners.
Accomplishments:
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EPA was able to sample the yards of 97 percent, or 4,315 of the 4,470 residences, within the VB/I-70 boundaries;
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EPA removed and replaced the soil at 761 of those yards because lead and/or arsenic levels were above cleanup thresholds; and
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3653 home visits were completed through 2006.
For more information on the program and its specifics, please contact the Denver Department of Environmental Health, or the US EPA, Region 8.
Department of Environmental Health:
Martha Hoff
Program Administrator
720-913-1516
martha.hoff@ci.denver.co.us
EPA:
Jennifer Chergo
EPA Community Involvement Coordinator
303-312-6601
chergo.jennifer@epa.gov
Or visit:
EPA VB/I-70 Superfund Site
City Lead Program info
CDPHE VB/I-70 Superfund Site
Northeast Denver Housing Center