June 12, 2014
50 cents Jefferson County, Colorado | Volume 30, Issue 50 A publication of
wheatridgetranscript.com
Gov. John Hickenlooper is joined by other legislators to sign SB14-194 at the Pierce Street DMV. Photo by Clarke Reader
A shorter Taking a gander at the gardens wait at the DMV The Wheat Ridge Garden tour will be making its way through the Prospect Valley community garden as one of the eight gardens on the tour. Photos by Clarke Reader
Annual city garden tour now with community garden By Clarke Reader
creader@colorado communitymedia.com
Hickenlooper visit Lakewood to sign SB14-194 By Clarke Reader
creader@colorado communitymedia.com The department of motor vehicles is certainly not the most glamorous place to have a bill signing, but it was the most fitting for the work Gov. John Hickenlooper and others came to do. Hickenlooper, Sen. Pat Steadman (DDenver), Rep. Cristana Duran (D-Denver) and Rep. Cheri Jerou (R-Evergreen) were joined by Barbara Brohl, executive director of the Department of Revenue, at the Pierce Street DMV in Lakewood on June 5, to sign a bill aimed at reducing DMV wait times. SB14-194, also known as the “Driver’s License Fee Allocations” bill, changes DMV funding in the hopes of creating a 15-minute wait time. Brohl described the bill as a major step forward in the modernization of the DMV, allowing for two consecutive online driver license renewals, granting the Department of Revenue fee setting authority within defined parameters, and consolidating cash funds for administrative efficiency. “Given all that goes on here at the DMV, this is the perfect place to sign this historic bill,” Brohl said during the signing. “The positive impact it will have on how the DMV does business will help all of Colorado.” The DMV received funding to enhance staff coverage during peak hours, expand office hours, provide additional training, and expand online appointment scheduling statewide. DMV continues on Page 2
Wheat Ridge is celebrating the greenest time of year with its annual garden tour, which will give IF YOU GO residents a chance to see what some WHAT: Wheat Ridge garden tour of their neighbors WHERE: Begins at Pietra’s have been growing Pizzeria, this season. 9045 W. 44th Ave., Wheat The tour will be Ridge 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on WHEN: Saturday, July 12 Saturday, July 12, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. starting at Pietra’s COST: $15 per person Pizzeria, 9045 W. lunch included Free - children 11 and 44th Ave. There will younger be a bicycle tour INFORMATION: www. that will start the wheatridgegardentour.com event at 7:30 a.m. at Pietra’s for any who want to participate. Regular ticket sales, which are $15 per person, will be available 8 a.m. to
The Prospect Valley garden is in its second year and enjoyed by many students. It is one of the stops on the Wheat Ridge Garden Tour. 1 p.m. Lunch at one of the gardens is included. The tour is sponsored Golden Wealth Solutions and FirstBank. According to information provided by event co-chair Milly Nadler, this year will feature eight gardens, including the
Prospect Valley Elementary garden. According to Stacie Mintken, cochair of the Prospect Valley Garden
Gardens continues on Page 2
A look at Rocky Flats 25 years later Crews still monitor contaminated ground water By Amy Woodward
awoodward@ colorado community media.com It was 25 years ago that officials from the Environmental Protection Agency, along with the FBI, raided
Rocky Flats, one of North America’s most notorious nuclear weapons facility, known for manufacturing plutonium triggers. Today, workers from the Department of Energy’s Legacy Management are still present on the 6,550 acres of open space that once housed 800 structures, some saturated with radioactive contamination, specifically plutoni-
um. In the decades it took to clean up the site, infrastructure was demolished, cleaned, and removed while building foundations were vaulted and buried in the ground with their highest point at six feet below the surface, the bottom resting anywhere from 65 to 80 feet. Most of the buildings at Rocky Flats were determined to be “lowlevel” which meant they were cleaned and sent by train to Envirocare, now known as EnerySolutions, located in Utah. Clean demolition debris which was eligible for “free release” was sent to the local landfill. “Remarkably where the production took place in
Scott Surovchak, site manager, discusses the clean-up process of the former Rocky Flats plutonium trigger manufacturing plant site. Photo by Amy Woodward these buildings, they’re actually — at the end of the day, it was low-level waste,” said David Abelson, member of the Rocky Flats Stewardship Council. Along with foundations, old process waste lines, which were cleaned out
and filled in with a grout, still remain as well as contaminated ground water. But doubt and controversy still surround what is now vacant grassland, overcome by wild flowers and frequent visitations from wildlife. Many question the level of
plutonium contamination at the site, with critics considering the land to be unsafe such as Boulder’s Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center who commissioned a study two years Rocky continues on Page 2