DENVER - Retired Denver Water workers are coming clean about hazardous waste they say they buried near dozens of homes and schools 20 years ago.
"It is a toxic burial ground. People are going to die," says Joe Pacheco.
Pacheco is one of a dozen former Denver Water employees who say they were ordered by Denver Water Manager Chips Barry to bury "cement asbestos, radiation asphalt" and other toxic chemicals at the "Foothills Water Treatment Facility" in Douglas County, near Titan Road and Santa Fe.
"They had us bury these toxins. We broke them up with back hoes and all we were given were dust masks," Pacheco claims.
Asbestos-cement pipe or sheet can emit airborne fibers if the materials are cut or sawed, or if they are broken.
Workers claim they "crushed the asbestos piping, spread it out on the land and covered it with dirt. It was never properly capped," the workers say.
The workers suffer from a wide range of illnesses they believe were caused by asbestos exposure and they're concerned the constant digging at the site could be releasing asbestos particles in the air and contaminating the soil and groundwater.
Nearby residents like Barbara Sherock have always wondered what was going on at the site.
"Why is all this digging being done? They aren't building anything back there. They even dig at night," Sherock told us.
Sherock and her neighbors thought they were buying homes near open space.
"If I would have known asbestos was buried back here, I would have never bought here," she says.
The workers say a drain flushes ground water from the site past dozens of homes and empties out at the bottom of the hill just below "Roxborough Intermediate School."
"What is going into these children? What are they breathing? What are any of us breathing? How come nobody told us?" Sherock asks.
The former workers took their concerns to the Denver Water Board. Board President Penfield Tate told us the board would investigate the allegations.
"We are absolutely taking it seriously," he told us.
Denver Water does not confirm or deny the workers' allegations.
Denver Water sent us a statement which says in part, "burying of CA (cement-asbestos) pipe may have occurred, but if it did, it was per standard practice at the time."
"Denver Water places a high priority on the safety of the public and our employees. We have an obligation to investigate any potential claims and an equally strong obligation to fight frivolous allegations.
These former employees first made similar vague allegations in August 2008 when they threatened to "go public" unless Denver Water paid them. We refused to give in to their demands, but agreed that if they provided details about the alleged activities, we would conduct a thorough investigation. To date, they have not provided us with any details that would help us determine the accuracy of their claims."
However, FOX31 obtained a Denver Water Board document, signed by Denver Water Manager Chips Barry, which shows the board spent $576,640.00 of their customer's money in 2009 to clean up at least some asbestos at the facility, referring to it as "an emergency clean up of Asbestos contamination at the Foothills Water Treatment Plant.
"The clean up involved two very large and critical portions of the treatment plantÂ…the clean up was very labor intensive and lasted for approximately 8 weeks," according to the document.
"Our water entity should be protecting water not dumping hazardous waste at a facility that provides drinking water for the metro area," says Adrienne Anderson with the environmental hazards group CO WATCH. Anderson is trying to help the workers expose the alleged contamination.
Water Board President Penfield Tate wanted the board to set up a meeting with the workers to get more information about where they say they buried the hazardous waste. The workers asked that Anderson be involved, and now it's unclear if the meeting will actually happen.
According to Denver Water, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has not done any testing at the Foothills site "specific to the workers claims." But the state health department may be prompted to investigate if it receives enough complaints from the community.
To file a complaint, call 303-692-3322.
More information about the allegations at the "Foothills Water Treatment Facility" in Douglas County and similar allegations regarding Denver Water dumping hazardous waste at 12th and Sheridan in Denver is available at http://www.rmpjc.org/cowatch/dw
"It is a toxic burial ground. People are going to die," says Joe Pacheco.
Pacheco is one of a dozen former Denver Water employees who say they were ordered by Denver Water Manager Chips Barry to bury "cement asbestos, radiation asphalt" and other toxic chemicals at the "Foothills Water Treatment Facility" in Douglas County, near Titan Road and Santa Fe.
"They had us bury these toxins. We broke them up with back hoes and all we were given were dust masks," Pacheco claims.
Asbestos-cement pipe or sheet can emit airborne fibers if the materials are cut or sawed, or if they are broken.
Workers claim they "crushed the asbestos piping, spread it out on the land and covered it with dirt. It was never properly capped," the workers say.
The workers suffer from a wide range of illnesses they believe were caused by asbestos exposure and they're concerned the constant digging at the site could be releasing asbestos particles in the air and contaminating the soil and groundwater.
Nearby residents like Barbara Sherock have always wondered what was going on at the site.
"Why is all this digging being done? They aren't building anything back there. They even dig at night," Sherock told us.
Sherock and her neighbors thought they were buying homes near open space.
"If I would have known asbestos was buried back here, I would have never bought here," she says.
The workers say a drain flushes ground water from the site past dozens of homes and empties out at the bottom of the hill just below "Roxborough Intermediate School."
"What is going into these children? What are they breathing? What are any of us breathing? How come nobody told us?" Sherock asks.
The former workers took their concerns to the Denver Water Board. Board President Penfield Tate told us the board would investigate the allegations.
"We are absolutely taking it seriously," he told us.
Denver Water does not confirm or deny the workers' allegations.
Denver Water sent us a statement which says in part, "burying of CA (cement-asbestos) pipe may have occurred, but if it did, it was per standard practice at the time."
"Denver Water places a high priority on the safety of the public and our employees. We have an obligation to investigate any potential claims and an equally strong obligation to fight frivolous allegations.
These former employees first made similar vague allegations in August 2008 when they threatened to "go public" unless Denver Water paid them. We refused to give in to their demands, but agreed that if they provided details about the alleged activities, we would conduct a thorough investigation. To date, they have not provided us with any details that would help us determine the accuracy of their claims."
However, FOX31 obtained a Denver Water Board document, signed by Denver Water Manager Chips Barry, which shows the board spent $576,640.00 of their customer's money in 2009 to clean up at least some asbestos at the facility, referring to it as "an emergency clean up of Asbestos contamination at the Foothills Water Treatment Plant.
"The clean up involved two very large and critical portions of the treatment plantÂ…the clean up was very labor intensive and lasted for approximately 8 weeks," according to the document.
"Our water entity should be protecting water not dumping hazardous waste at a facility that provides drinking water for the metro area," says Adrienne Anderson with the environmental hazards group CO WATCH. Anderson is trying to help the workers expose the alleged contamination.
Water Board President Penfield Tate wanted the board to set up a meeting with the workers to get more information about where they say they buried the hazardous waste. The workers asked that Anderson be involved, and now it's unclear if the meeting will actually happen.
According to Denver Water, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has not done any testing at the Foothills site "specific to the workers claims." But the state health department may be prompted to investigate if it receives enough complaints from the community.
To file a complaint, call 303-692-3322.
More information about the allegations at the "Foothills Water Treatment Facility" in Douglas County and similar allegations regarding Denver Water dumping hazardous waste at 12th and Sheridan in Denver is available at http://www.rmpjc.org/cowatch/dw
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