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EPA standard of 70 parts per trillion in drinking water, said Becca Curry, Colorado policy advocate for Earthjustice.

“I’ve asked my colleagues around the nation for any other refi nery that has a PFAS limit put into the permit, and I can’t fi nd one,” Curry said.

PFAS readings in Suncor discharge water have risen well above 1,000 parts per trillion, state offi cials said.

Water quality offi cials detailing the proposed requirements in the permit said they have listened to neighbors living near Suncor and to advocates demanding more accountability for the refi nery, which has logged numerous air and water violations for decades.

“We feel it is a more protective permit than exists today. And we’re very proud of that,” said Nicole Rowan, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s state water quality director.

A Suncor spokeswoman said Nov. 16, “We will take time to review the details in the draft water permit and follow the established permit renewal process.”

Now that the draft permit renewal is released to the public, the state extended the usual comment period. After that closes, state staff must then research and respond to the comments.

The water quality division is likely to issue a fi nal permit a few months into 2022. Permits last for fi ve years, but are often extended after expiring because state staff has been limited for the most complex permits.

Suncor’s air pollution permits are also under review by the health department’s Air Quality Control Division, which has not yet released its responses to public comments. In the new water discharge permit, the state said it is looking for the following changes at Suncor: • More intensive monitoring of benzene-tainted groundwater at the site. A clay barrier is supposed to keep the hazardous material from Sand Creek, which runs past the refi nery and quickly empties into

The Suncor refi nery in Commerce City is pictured on Sand Creek near where it meets the South Platte River. Both streams have

highly challenged water quality, though many conservationists argue they can get still better. PHOTO BY ANDY COLWELL/SPECIAL TO THE COLORADO SUN

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the South Platte River. • Limits for 50 chemicals the state has now added to monitoring requirements for Suncor’s new permit. • First-time monitoring of hazardous chemicals leaking into the Burlington irrigation ditch that fl ows north into Barr Lake and supplies water to north metro communities. If chemicals are discovered, Suncor will have to line the Burlington ditch to protect drinking water. • Closed-circuit TV exploration and monitoring of old pipe and reservoir systems throughout the sprawling plant as part of an “all-asset” review alerting state offi cials to older, potentially forgotten hazards. • Text warnings to neighboring communities when hazardous spills threaten water, similar to a system for air pollution breeches Suncor instituted after past negotiations with the state. • PFAS monitoring weekly at the major “outfalls” of production water and stormwater from Suncor property into Sand Creek. Suncor will be held to the EPA’s national guidelines of less than 70 parts per trillion in discharges. State offi cials added that the EPA is amid a major PFAS review and could tighten those standards, which the state would then follow.

Conservation groups are especially excited about the PFAS monitoring, which they say is one of the fi rst efforts by the state to count the dangerous pollution and hold one industrial site accountable for runoff. Environmental groups have analyzed EPA databases showing that Colorado may have far more sites contaminated by PFAS than any other state.

Chemicals from the PFAS family — there are thousands of variations — have been used for decades in fi refi ghting foam at hazardous sites like Suncor, as well as countless consumer and industrial products advertising nonstick coatings or lubricating properties. They easily permeate into groundwater and don’t degrade over time. Removing them from drinking water supplies is expensive.

While federal and state offi cials are still establishing safe human consumption limits for PFAS, the EPA says studies show the chemicals cause “reproductive and developmental, liver and kidney, and immunological effects in laboratory animals,” as well as tumors. High cholesterol levels in those exposed are also common impacts.

State offi cials said they believe PFAS fi refi ghting foam used in the past by Suncor — and still stored on site, according to the state — has contributed to “highly contaminated” groundwater under and around the facility.

During the public comment period, said water division permits section manager Meg Parish, “one of the big questions we’re asking folks is, are these the right limits? We could change these limits in response to public comment.”

This story is from The Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support The Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun. com. The Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media. from the American Rescue Plan.

Williams said this is a fair amount to ask for given that Colorado youth and young adults under the age of 24 make up 31% of the state’s population.

Zach Zaslow, director of government affairs at Children’s, said funding cannot stop with the American Rescue Plan. For actual changes in Colorado, Zaslow said lawmakers at the state and federal levels must commit to fi xing the crisis by creating sustainable programs and funding beyond 2021.

By creating the sustainable programs, Zaslow said children and youth will be able to get the care they need before a crisis.

Meharena said part of the problem is the system is designed to be reactive rather than proactive.

As part of the solution, the multi-agency playbook calls for state policies to prioritize children and youth mental health through continued federal funding investments and to make sure the new Behavioral Health Administration is child focused.

Other solutions addressed by the panel include pushing lawmakers to change how the health care system separates physical and mental health. Currently, CHC Chief Medical Offi cer Dr. David Brumbaugh said the way insurance companies manage mental health makes it hard for families to afford proper care.

Creating more virtual options for rural communities is also a solution, Zaslow said.

Rebecca Doughty -- program director of Four Corners Youth Clinics, a member of the Colorado Association of School-Based Health Clinics -- said a shortage of trained psychologists and staff is a major problem in rural communities.

Zaslow said having the ability to speak to qualifi ed professionals without having to drive to Aurora would help get help to the young people struggling beyond the Front Range.

Dr. Jenna Glover, a Children’s clinical psychologist, said the playbook the panel is introducing offers tangible information that will show lawmakers how they can begin to repair a broken system.

Glover and members of the panel are urging the public to push lawmakers at all levels to start making mental health care for youth a priority.

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Cultural organizations lost a decade of growth

BY KYLE COOKE ROCKY MOUNTAIN PBS

The nonprofi t Colorado Business Committee for the Arts (CBCA) has released a study detailing the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on art and cultural institutions and many of the fi ndings paint a bleak image.

The data for the study were self-reported by close to 300 arts, culture and science organizations that receive funding from the Scientifi c and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD).

The CBCA study, released Nov. 4, concluded that the Denver area’s arts sector “lost a decade of growth in 2020.”

“Arts, culture and scientifi c organizations are the backbone of a vibrant, resilient and inclusive society. CBCA’s 2021 Economic Activity Study of Metro Denver Culture illustrates years of record-breaking cultural growth, which hit an all-time high in 2019, and conversely in 2020, how a community responds to drastic and disruptive circumstances,” CBCA’s executive director Christin Crampton Day said in a news release. 2019 was a banner year for the arts, with $2.3 billion in economic activity (defi ned by the CBCA as “direct and indirect spending from operations, audiences and capital projects”). That fi gure is an all-time high.

But. of course, the COVID-19 pandemic was right around the corner in 2020, and with the combination of the deadly virus and pandemic-related closures of places like museums and concert venues, economic activity decreased by 34% compared to 2019.

The CBCA said the economic activity in 2020 was comparable to the levels of the Great Recession in 2008.

Not surprisingly, attendance to arts events was nearly halved.

Job loss was another problem. In 2019, the cultural sector had a record number of full-time, part-time and contract workers at 13,392 according to the CBCA’s study. “If the entire cultural nonprofi t sector was one single employer in 2019, it would have been the largest private employer in the metro region,” the CBCA wrote.

But in 2020, the number of workers plummeted nearly 30%, down to just 9,688.

That summer, Rocky Mountain PBS spoke with three different workers in Colorado’s entertainment industry, including Philip Hiester. A stagehand who works at places like Boettcher Concert Hall, Hiester had to fi le for unemployment benefi ts for the fi rst time in his decades-long career during the pandemic.

The hardest part for Hiester during the pandemic was the uncertainty of when steady work would return. Some of that anxiety was eased in 2021 when indoor performances returned to the Colorado Symphony, but rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Colorado are proof that the pandemic is not very close to being over.

There were, however, some success stories. The Denverbased dance company Wonderbound, for example, was able to keep all its dancers on payroll despite performance cancellations.

And the Denver Art Museum, meanwhile, was able to open its renovated campus earlier this year. After the renovations, the museum added 65 full-time jobs.

The lone bright spot in the CBCA study was in donations and government support for the arts sector. It was the only key metric in the study that increased between 2019 to 2020.

In 2019, the organizations surveyed received $38 million in individual donations and $25 million in government funding. In 2020, individual donations jumped to $43 million and government funding increased to $41 million.

“These sources helped to cover major losses in earned revenue and corporate event sponsorships as a result of the pandemic,” the CBCA wrote.

The remodeled lobby of the Denver Art Museum’s Lanny & Sharon

Martin Building, which reopened Oct. 24. PHOTO BY MARK HARDEN

This story is from Rocky Mountain PBS, a nonprofi t public broadcaster providing community stories across Colorado over the air and online. Used by permission. For more, and to support Rocky Mountain PBS, visit rmpbs.org.