State Accuses Denver of Trying To Buy Looser Cleanup Standards

Date: October 17, 2002

Source: News Room

Colorado's top environmental regulator has charged that Denver is trying to pay its way to looser cleanup requirements at the Lowry Landfill Superfund site. Doug Benevento, acting director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, has derided what he termed a "trade" that would see Denver settle a $12 million lawsuit filed by the Environmental Protection Agency if the federal government backed off certain demands at the Arapahoe County site. In a letter, Benevento cited examples where Denver has asked the EPA to loosen cleanup standards at the landfill, a 480-acre site 15 miles southeast of Denver where tons of toxic wastes were once dumped with abandon. Denver's proposals include changing cleanup boundaries and eliminating some waste treatment and containment strategies, Benevento wrote.

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