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| Decommissioned site used by CF&I, now property of EVRAZ Pueblo |
Long gone are the glory
days of industry, when the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company was the number one
employer in Pueblo. Built in 1881, CF&I produced railroad supplies and fuel
for the Denver and Rio Grande Railway Company. The steel mill continued to
drive industry in Pueblo until its decline in the early 1980s. Following years
of bankruptcy claims, it was purchased in 2007 by the Evraz Group. In addition
to the steel mill, Pueblo was home to five ore smelters, including the Colorado
Smelter which was recently named a Superfund site by the EnvironmentalProtection Agency (EPA).
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| Neighborhood effected by slag contaminants |
Over many years the waste slag produced during the process or ore refining was
dumped into a ravine located between Santa Fe Ave. and I-25. The waste
contains hazardous materials which threaten public health. Although early
investigations in the 1990s revealed cause for concern, official tests were not
conducted until 2010. Ground samples from the slag pile and the neighboring
residential area were found to contain elevated levels of lead and arsenic. Both
contaminants are linked to health problems -including neurological damage and
cancer- and pose a higher threat to children.
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| Playground where elevated levels of lead and arsenic were discovered during investigation |
In 2014, the Pueblo City-County Health Department
applied for and received nearly $200,000 in grant funds for community outreach
and education. As of December 11, 2014, the Colorado Smelter was added to the
National Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund sites. Rising 30-feet high along
the right side of Santa Fe Ave, the slag pile covers an area of approximately
700,000-square-feet. Superfund will oversee the cleanup process, which is
expected to take several years to complete. For those interested in learning
more about the Colorado Smelter site, a community advisory group meeting is
scheduled for June 9th from 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm at the Steelworks Museum of Industry & Culture.
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| Slag pile located between Santa Fe Ave and I-25 which led to the site's inclusion on the NPL |
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