VOLUME 36 | ISSUE 6
WEEK OF FEBRUARY 8, 2024
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Talking partnerships, schools and parking Spreading the word
about toxic pollution BY ROSSANA LONGO BETTER SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
Brighton City Councilor Adams 27J School Board President Tom Green welcomes officials from Brighton, Commerce City and the school district to a joint meeting Jan. 3o in the school districts offices. SCOTT TAYLOR
• Vestas to lay off 200 employees •27J Schools moves online-only Dec. 1
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BUSINESS LOCAL
Brighton, Commerce City meet with 27J district BY SCOTT TAYLOR STAYLOR@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
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LOCAL OBITUARIES LEGALS CLASSIFIED
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
With increasing student enrollment and work on a fourth high school in the future, Brightonbased School District 27J wanted a chance to chat with city officials from Brighton and Commerce City. “It’s about partnerships”, Brighton Councilor and 27J Board President Tom Green said. District officials gave an update about plans to build a new high school in Commerce City’s Reunion neighborhood and efforts to ease parking problems around Brighton High School at the joint meeting on Jan. 30 at the school district’s Brighton offices. But the bulk of the meeting centered around partnerships
and the cities and school districts working together. “We really find these beneficial,” Green told the group of about 20 school and municipal officials. “The dialog that we get to have and the updates we get about what you guys are doing, we find these priceless.” Chris Fiedler, 27J’s school superintendent and a newly-elected Brighton City Councilor, noted that 27J’s student enrollment continues to grow, with 23,108 students for the 2023-24 school year —about 421 students more than the previous year. The 27J school district currently operates three high schools: Brighton High School in Brighton, Prairie View High School in Henderson and Riverdale Ridge in Thornton. Now the district is preparing to begin work on the fourth school, in Commerce City’s Reunion area. District Operations Officer Terry Lucero said the district expects the school will cost $130
million to construct, with plans to open in Aug. 2027. It would be built near Landmark Drive and Reunion Parkway, north of 96th Avenue. “We’ve had this site in mind since 2002, so we’re happy to finally get this thing going along,” Lucero said. He said the district is working with the Commerce City Council and staff to narrow down the location and decide how the school will fit on the site. Currently, the work now involves settling on a site with Commerce City and deciding how that land will be used. “The first step for us is to agree on that property line and a new survey and a legal description,” Lucero said. “And then we expect that land will be dedicated to us by Commerce City. In the meantime, we are just going to keep moving with this plan.”
BRIEFS: PAGE 2 | OBITUARIES: PAGE 4 | CLASSIFIEDS: PAGE 11 | LEGAL: PAGE 13
SEE 27J, P7
As oil and gas companies continue to emit toxic pollutants into the air and water of nearby areas, scientists have teamed up with community groups to ensure that communities of color are aware of the health effects. Scientist Brent Goodlet, founder of Climate Movement CO, delivered a presentation to a packed auditorium on Jan. 26 at the Eagle Pointe Recreation Center in Commerce City. We sat down with Goodlet after his presentations for a more in-depth conversation. Goodlet, who has a Ph.D., works with the Black Parents United Foundation, Cultivando, and other groups to share what he has learned about the serious impacts that pollutants from fracking and the nearby Suncor oil refinery have on people’s health. After the presentation, we also spoke with Phillip Doe, environmental director for the organization Be the Change Colorado. Doe was also on the advisory board for Cultivando’s mobile air monitoring project for the Globeville / Elyria-Swansea / Commerce City neighborhoods. He shared why he’s suspicious of carbon-capture technology and argued for priority to be put on the people who live in the area. The interviews have been edited for length and clarity. Colorado Community Media: You were showing us a presentation about fracking and all the new wells that are planning to be open and the ones that are already open here in Colorado. When you explain how the fracking system works, you were talking about tubes that go all the way down, taking all these pollutants underneath the ground. There’s a carbon sequestration plant, like the one called Global Thermostat, that is trying to clean the air. When they take out all those pollutants, what do they do with them? Dr. Brent Goodlet: That project is about carbon sequestration primarily. I think it could be a direct air capture system so that they’re sucking all of the ambient air into their system. They filter out, typically, carbon pollution and carbon dioxide, and processes that companies use can be different, but they do some kind of isolation of the carbon dioxide to concentrate it. SEE POLLUTION, P5
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SPEAKING OF SUCCESS
Language barrier is real for Commerce City entrepreneurs P8