Overview
The Rocky Mountain Arsenal – a 27-square-mile property located in Adams County, Colorado, about eight miles northeast of downtown Denver – has undergone a stunning transformation from a Superfund site (or hazardous waste site) into a major urban wildlife refuge. Two funding opportunities came from a natural resource damage settlement in 2008. The Consent Decrees established a Foundation Fund to be used to fund projects selected by the NGC Advisory Committee, and a Recovery Fund to be used to fund projects proposed by any Interested Party that meets project criteria.
Foundation Fund
The NRD Consent Decree between the State of Colorado and Shell Oil Company established the Northeast Greenway Corridor (NGC) Advisory Committee consisting of Adams County, the City of Aurora, City of Brighton, City of Commerce City, City and County of Denver, City of Thornton and the Sand Creek Regional Greenway Partnership. Pursuant to the Consent Decree, Shell Oil Company will pay $10 million to fund projects recommended by the Advisory Committee in the Northeast Greenway Corridor Restoration Plan, approved by the State Natural Resource Damages Trustees on July 31, 2012. For a copy of the Northeast Greenway Corridor Restoration Plan, click here.
Recovery Fund
The Rocky Mountain Arsenal (RMA) Natural Resources Damages (NRD) Recovery Fund consists of $17.4 million from Shell Oil Company and the U.S. Army for natural resources restoration around or offsite the RMA. The Trustees invited the community at large to submit proposals for Recovery Fund projects in 2012 as part of the Northeast Greenway Corridor Master Plan. Proposals that met the initial Screening and Evaluation Criteria in 2012 were invited to add more detail to their proposals in 2014. Between February and August 2014, the RMA Recovery Fund Working Group—comprised of representatives of local jurisdictions and nonprofit organizations – worked together to develop consensus recommendations in the Northeast Greenway Corridor Restoration Plan Appendix, which were approved by the State Natural Resource Damages Trustees on September 26, 2014. For a copy of the Northeast Greenway Corridor Restoration Plan Appendix, click here.