EC -
Shattuck Chemical Company
Mountain-Prairie Region
Graphic button showing the 8 state mountain prairie region

S.W. Shattuck Chemical Company, Inc.

 

Jump to a section: Natural resource restoration | Public documents, links and contacts | « Back to Contaminants

Denver map pinpointing the restoration area.

Denver map pinpointing the restoration area.

Background: The S.W. Shattuck Chemical Company, Inc. (Shattuck site) is Operable Unit 8 of the Denver Radium Superfund site, and is located in southwest Denver within the South Platte River Basin. The site consists of 5.9 acres of land formerly owned by the S.W. shattuck Chemical Company, a 4.3 acre railroad right-of-way just west ofthe Shattuck property, and nearby "vicinity" properites bounded by South Broadway Street, South Santa Fe Drive, Evans Avenue, and Iowa Avenue.

The Shattuck site is located within the drainage of the South Platte River, which flows approximately 3,000 feet west of the site. A shallow unconfined aquifer exists beneath the site and is perched on bedrock and merges with the alluvial aquifer beneath the floodplain of the South Platte River.

Goundwater in the area of the site generally flows west across the site and then northwest toward the South Platte River. Several contaminants including uranium, gross alpha and beta radioactivity, arsenic, cadmium, selenium, molybdenum, other metals, and some organic chemicals were documented in groundwater of the shallow unconfined aquifer beneath the Shattuck site. Some of these contaminants were shown to have infiltrated s storm sewer adjacent to and down-gradient from the site, raising concerns that contaminants discharged from the storm sewer outfall had impacted the South Platte River and its natural resources

The South Platte River provides habitat that supports a variety of migratory birds. Seasonal surveys conducted by the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and the Denver Chapter of the audubon Society along the urban reach of the South Platte River identified more than 30 species of migratory birds including waterfowl, shorebirds, and songbirds.

Natural resource restoration »

« Back to the top

In 2002, a settlement agreement was reached between the responsible party, the S.W. Shattuck Chemical Company, Inc., and the United States Department of the Interior (DOI) to resolve claims under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) that the release of hazardous substances from the site caused injuries to natural resources. A Consent Degree was entered with the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, by the United States, the State of Colorado, and the S.W. Shattuck Chemical Company, Inc. on August 26, 2002. The portion of the Consent Decree dealing with settlement of DOI's natural resource damage claims required Shattuck to pay $250,000 to DOI to address natural resource injury caused by the release of hazardous substances from the site. Under the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) provisions of CERCLA, these funds will be used to restore, replace, or acquire the equivalent of the injured natural resources.

Under CERCLA, federal agencies who administer natural resources, states, and federally-recognized Indian tribes are designated as natural resource trustees for those natural resources under their statutory authorities and responsibilities. These designated natural resource trustees have the responsibility to restore, rehabilitate, replace, or acquire the equivalent of natural resources injured as a result of a hazardous substance release. For this site, the Region 6 Regional Director of the Service has been designated as DOI's authorized official, to act as the natural resource trustee on behalf of the DOI Secretary. As such, the Service is responsible for the development of a restoration plan (RP), and for the implementation and oversight of activities aimed at restoring natural resources injured by the release of hazardous substances from the Shattuck facility. As a natural resource trustee, the Service is also responsible for administering the natural resource injury-related settlement funds and soliciting public input into the restoration process. Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Service as a federal agency, must also assess the potential environmental impacts associated with the proposed restoration actions. Therefore, the requirements of a restoration plan and a NEPA environmental analysis (EA) are combined in this RP/EA document. 

Public documents, links and contacts »

« Back to the top

Public Documents
Final Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment
Finding of No Significant Impact

Links to more information 
  U.S. EPA - http://www.epa.gov/region8/superfund/co/denverradium/

  Colorado State Department of Health and Environment -
   http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/HM/rpdenrad.htm

Contacts 
If you have any questions or comments related to the Shattuck NRDA, contact us via email or telephone:

Laura Archuleta - Contaminants Specialist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, phone 719-655-6121, fax 719-665-2502.      

 


 

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with Others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American People.
Last modified: June 30, 2014
All Images Credit to and Courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Unless Specified Otherwise.
instagram button flickr youtube