Forbidden Fruit

Arvada wants to bite off a chunk of Rocky Flats.

A A A Comments By Stuart Steers Thursday, Aug 10 2000

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While the municipal body slamming over the future of the former nuclear-weapons plant has led to bruises and wounded feelings, the question of just how much contamination should be allowed at the edge of metro Denver is deadly serious. In the not-too-distant future, schoolchildren may be hiking and looking out for coyotes on the prairie at Rocky Flats, and office buildings and homes may press up against what for years has been regarded as a no-man's-land.

What local governments are dealing with at Rocky Flats goes way beyond political egos, notes Danish, since plutonium remains radioactive for more than 240,000 years.

Boulder County Commissioner Paul Danish wants Rocky Flats to remain as open space.Arvada mayor Ken Fellman wants to keep his options open.Tom Hoffman leads Friends of the Foothills.Arvada has designs on Denver.Development creeps closer and closer to Rocky Flats.

David Rehor

Boulder County Commissioner Paul Danish wants Rocky Flats to remain as open space.

Learn more about Rocky Flats from Eileen Welsome's three-part series "From Cold War to Hot Property."

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"I think term limits will get all of us by then," he says with a smile.