Soil removal scheduled at missile site

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

Crews will move into Bellvue in June to remove about 35 cubic yards of contaminated soil, a toxic reminder of an Atlas E missile site that was abandoned in the 1960s.

The contaminants, including PCBs, were discovered in 1999 at three Colorado missile sites, including one at Nunn and another at Hereford. The Bellvue site is located northwest of Ted's Place.

Jeff Skog, who works in the environmental remediation branch of the Army Corps of Engineers, said removal of the material will cost about $30,000 to $40,000. The soil will be hauled to the North Weld County Landfill in Ault, which is permitted to take toxic waste.

The PCBs came from hydraulic or transformer fluids used at the missile site.

Still to be remedied is a groundwater problem caused by flushing rocket fuel tanks at the site. TCE contamination has been found in two water-bearing zones at the site, 40 and 80 feet below the surface. Skog said the Army Corps is working on a feasibility study related to the groundwater contamination, a report that should be finished by the end of September. The report will suggest options for mitigating the problem.

The plume of contaminated groundwater has been moving slowly toward the Cache la Poudre River, but Skog said it has not moved significantly in recent years. The Army Corps tested water wells in the area, and none was found to be contaminated. Nonetheless, the Army Corps has said the contamination still needs to be removed from the groundwater.

In the case of the Bellvue site, Skog said, it will be more difficult to remove contamination from the groundwater than from the soil.