Contaminants | NRDAR
Mountain-Prairie Region
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Natural Resources Damage Assessment and Restoration Program

 

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.

The primary aim of the U.S. Department of the Interior's (Department) Natural Resources Damage Assessment and Restoration Program (NRDAR) is to restore natural resources injured as the result of oil spills or hazardous substance releases.  The program assesses the damages and injuries to natural resources entrusted to the Department and negotiates legal settlements or takes other legal actions against the responsible parties for the spill or release.  Funds from these settlements are then used to restore the injured resources at no expense to the taxpayer.  Settlements often include the recovery of the costs incurred in assessing the damages.  These funds are then used to fund further damage assessments.

For more information:  
-Visit the Department of Interior's NRDR website.  
-Contact John Wegrzyn, NRDA Coordinator, USFWS, Region 6, 303-236-4261

Natural resource restoration »

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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 »

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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: August 30, 2016
All Images Credit to and Courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Unless Specified Otherwise.
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