Vasquez Boulevard/Interstate 70 (VB/I-70)

The Vasquez Boulevard/Interstate 70 (VB/I-70) Superfund site is located in northeast Denver, Colorado. The site covers an area of approximately four square miles, including four neighborhoods and 4,000 residential properties. Historically a major smelting center for the Rocky Mountain West, today the neighborhoods are within an urban area that hosts highways, refineries, and other industry. Some of the residential properties have soil contaminated with lead and arsenic.

• In 1998, EPA and the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment (CDPHE) sampled soil from some residential yards in the VB/I-70 neighborhoods and found elevated lead and arsenic concentrations in some yards. After the Vasquez Boulevard and I-70 site was added to the EPA Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) in July 1999, EPA began to determine the extent of the soil contamination. More than 3,000 properties were sampled to determine arsenic and lead levels in the soil. EPA immediately removed and replaced the soil from 48 properties contaminated with very high levels of arsenic.
• In May 2003, EPA proposed to cleanup the site by removing highly contaminated soil and replacing it with clean soil. The final cleanup decision will be issued in early Fall 2003.
• The site involves an Environmental Justice community, and EPA has instituted an extensive community involvement program at the site. EPA holds numerous informational meetings in the neighborhoods, and with neighborhood organizations and leaders. Further, EPA convenes a regular working group meeting every few months where community leaders participate in the technical discussions. Community members formed an inter-neighborhood group called CEASE and received a EPA Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) to hire a technical advisor.
• EPA continues to monitor the site to ensure there is no immediate threat to human health or the environment pending the start of long-term cleanup work.

• EPA has spent more than four years and $3 million investigating residential soils in the VB/I-70 neighborhoods. The total cleanup will likely involve removing and replacing approximately 850 residential yards. It will also go toward funding a community health program for the duration of the cleanup in an attempt to address the cumulative environmental impacts of lead and arsenic in the area, ensure there is no immediate threat to human health, and provide health education concerning lead and arsenic. In addition, soil sampling will continue for those homes that have not yet had their yard sampled and will begin in a small section of a fifth neighborhood adjacent to the original site. The estimated cost to conduct this cleanup work is $31 million.
• The VB/I-70 project will receive $3.5 million during FY 2003 to conduct this cleanup work. This money will be used to clean up 141 yards with the highest levels of arsenic and lead remaining in the area. This funding is necessary because some levels of arsenic and lead in some residential soils remain high and could be a threat to human health. In many cases, yards with high levels of lead and arsenic do not have any landscaping or grass, and residents are exposed directly to the soil and dust. In addition, residents in these neighborhoods are subject to a host of environmental impacts stemming from industry and transportation in the area. Cleaning up the soils will lessen the cumulative impact.

For more information on this site, please read the Fact Sheet on the Region 8 Superfund Web site.

Key Accomplishments