Region 8
Brownfields in Region 8
National Information
Regional Information
Denver Animal Shelter: A healthy place for pets, people and the planet
Once a sprawling 40-acre contaminated eyesore near downtown Denver, the former General Chemical property is now home to an animal shelter and public works facility, both of which are models for sustainable and efficient design. In 2010, the City and County of Denver used a Recovery Act subgrant from the State of Colorado's brownfields loan fund to complete soil cleanup. Soil and groundwater at the property contained many toxics including cadmium, lead, arsenic, asbestos and petroleum. With the cleanup complete the city and county moved quickly on the construction of a 36,000 square-feet, state-of-the-art animal shelter. The Denver Animal Shelter is the first animal shelter in the nation to receive the designation as Platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified. Next door, the city’s LEED-gold public works campus provides space for offices and vehicle maintenance and storage. Read more about the Denver Animal Shelter LEED Platinum certification.
More Region 8 Success Stories
What are Brownfields?
Brownfields are real property, the expansion, redevelopment or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant. Region 8's Brownfields program provides funds and technical assistance to states, tribes, communities, and other stakeholders to assess, clean up and redevelop brownfields properties in the Rocky Mountain region, making it easier for such lands to become vital, functioning parts of their communities. On this site, you can find information about Region 8’s Brownfields Program including Brownfields grants, program contacts and more.
Brownfields Program Benefits
The Region 8 Brownfields Program has created many benefits for local communities across CO, MT, ND, SD, UT and WY, as highlighted below (results as of 3/2012). For additional details, view the summary of EPA Brownfields Program Benefits (PDF, 1 pg, 137K).
- Properties Assessed: 1,714
- Cleanups Completed: 98
- Acres made ready-for-reuse: 3,280
- Dollars Leveraged: $1,293,144,055
- Jobs Leveraged: 4,377
News and Highlights
- The Spring 2012 Edition of the WBWire: From greenfields to brownfields highlights Brownfields community garden projects in the western region and provides resources to help turn brownfields into green gardens.
- View other Brownfields news items on the Brownfields News and Events page.