The Rocky Flats Stewardship Council formed in February 2006 to provide ongoing local government and community oversight of the post-closure management of Rocky Flats, the former nuclear weapons plant northwest of Denver.
The nearly $7 billion cleanup project was completed in
October 2005 and represents an important legacy for our communities.
Cleanup significantly reduced the many risks posed by the former
weapons site. There are, however, ongoing management needs
that remain vital to ensuring long-term protection of human health and
the environment. Those responsibilities lie with the Department of
Energy (DOE). In June 2007, DOE transferred 3953 acres of the former
site buffer zone to the Department of the Interior to manage as the
Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge.
The Stewardship Council’s mandate is found in federal law. In late
2004, the United States Congress, working with the Department of Energy
and our predecessor organization, the Rocky Flats Coalition of Local
Governments, approved legislation creating a new organization to focus
on the post-closure care and management of Rocky Flats. This
organization, the Rocky Flats Stewardship Council, includes elected
officials from ten municipal governments neighboring Rocky Flats, three
community organizations and one individual.
In addition to working with DOE, the Environmental
Protection Agency and the Colorado Department of Public Health and
Environment, the Stewardship Council also works with the United States
Fish and Wildlife Service on issues related to the management of the
Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge.
For more information about the Rocky Flats Stewardship Council,
including Board membership information, the Intergovernmental
Agreement, and the annual work plan, click
here.