U.S. Senator Ken Salazar

Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs Committees

 

2300 15th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

 

 

For Immediate Release

October 13, 2005

CONTACT:    Cody Wertz – Press Secretary

                        202-228-3630

Jen Clanahan – Deputy Press Secretary

                        303-455-7600

 

Sen. Salazar Applauds Rocky Flats Cleanup
Work Still to be Done on “Crown Jewel of the Front Range”

Denver, CO – The Rocky Flats area slated to become a National Wildlife Refuge is nearly cleaned up and ready to complete its transformation. Kaiser-Hill, the company that was contracted to complete clean-up at the former nuclear weapons plant, has announced that they have finished the job.

“The Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge will become the crown jewel of the Front Range, thanks in large part to the skilled and patriotic workers who helped bring the Cold War to an end and then labored on selflessly to clean up the site below budget and in record time,” said Salazar.

Senator Salazar believes additional steps must be taken before the Rocky Flats cleanup operation can be called a complete success and is working to make them happen. The issues surrounding health care and retirement benefits for the workers at Rocky Flats as well as mineral rights transfers still need to be resolved.

  • Because the physical clean-up of Rocky Flats was finished before the targeted December 2006 date some workers wouldn’t qualify for health care and retirement benefits. To alleviate this problem Senator Salazar with Senator Allard introduced legislation that provides $15 million to be used for benefits for them.
  • Senators Salazar and Allard also co-sponsored an amendment authorizing $10 million to purchase the mineral rights associated with the Rocky Flats site. Purchasing the mineral rights would ensure that the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge will continue to be maintained as prime habitat for native Colorado species.
  • The Department of Energy needs to review and approve Kaiser-Hill’s formal completion report which will likely take several weeks.

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