Current work in wildlife, rivers, public lands, and climate

The group’s notices target the former General Chemical Corporation-Denver Works site in Denver and the Western Sugar Cooperative facility in Fort Morgan.The letters identify numerous violations of the Clean Water Act permits that regulate the entities’ industrial wastewater discharges into the South Platte River.

Of particular concern is the location of these facilities adjacent to or upstream of two parks frequented by the public. The General Chemical site is located four miles upstream of Confluence Park in Denver, which is where kids,families, and dogs play in the river as it passes through the City. The Western Sugar facility is located just upstream and almost directly adjacent to Riverside Park, a local amenity in the town of Fort Morgan on the eastern plains.

“Families in Colorado should be able to enjoy the state’s rivers without fear of encountering dangerous pollutants that threaten their health,” said Jen Pelz, Wild Rivers Program Director at WildEarth Guardians. “The government has failed to do its job. For nearly five years these facilities have violated the law and polluted this river,”said Pelz. “We intend to uphold the promise of the Clean Water Act to ensure that all streams are clean and safe.”

The General Chemical site is an industrial property that was most recently operated as an aluminum sulfate manufacturing facility. Despite efforts to redevelop the site, the facility has continually violated the permit limitation for pH over the past five years causing acidic water to enter the South Platte threatening the health of fish and other aquatic organisms in the river.

The Western Sugar facility is home to a sugar beet processing plant. The plants wastewater discharges have violated the permit requirements for fecal coliform, biological oxygen demand, and pH for five years running. These pollutants are a threat to the health of the South Platte river ecosystem and those who recreate in and near the river.

“The bold vision of the 92^nd Congress—that all discharge of pollutants be eliminated by 1985—remains unfulfilled as pollutants are still being dumped into our Nation’s rivers and streams,” added Pelz. “Guardians is not afraid to exercise its right under the citizen suit provision of the Act in order to hold polluters accountable and keep our waterways healthy.”

These notices were filed to initiate the larger campaign by WildEarth Guardians to protect and restore clean and healthy waterways throughout the front range of Colorado.