Former Lowry Air Force Bombing and Gunnery Range, Colorado

Site Overview

Site Location

Arapahoe County, Colorado, approximately 20 miles southeast of Denver and adjacent to the city of Aurora

Site Description

This 56-square-mile site was used by the Department of Defense for bombing and gunnery training during the World War II era. The site was also used for small arms training, chemical warfare treatment training, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD, by detonation), and as a location for Titan missile silos. The land has since been transferred to new owners and developed for commercial, industrial, recreational, and residential use. Numerous unexploded ordnance (UXO) and other safety hazards have been encountered during this development. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is now working to reduce safety and environmental risks created by former Department of Defense activities by finding and removing unexploded ordnance (UXO), and by removing underground petroleum storage tanks.

Organization Requesting Assistance

Restoration Advisory Board

Beginning Date of Assistance

April 1997

Summary of TOSC Assistance

The Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) requested technical assistance to help look at different ways to find and remove UXO, and to understand the statistics used at the site. After the RAB helped draft and approved a Letter of Intent for support, TOSC provided several educational sessions covering statistics, risks of ordnance and chemical warfare materials, and methods used to find UXO. TOSC worked with the Department of Defense and with state and local citizens interested in the site to pass on this information. TOSC has also visited the site and provided technical review comments. Defense funds became available for the RAB to hire a private consultant, so TOSC support was no longer necessary.

NOTE: The EPA TOSC and TOSNAC programs have ended. Communities seeking technical assistance should contact:

- Belinda Young in EPA Region 7’s office (for help in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, or Iowa) at 913-551-7463 and Young.Belinda@epa.gov;

- Briana Bill in EPA Region 5’s office (for help in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio) at 312-353-6646 and Bill.Briana@epa.gov; or

- Karen Martin at EPA Headquarters at 703-603-9925, Martin.Karenl@epa.gov; or

- EPA personnel identified at the bottom of the TOSC Information Contacts below:

TOSC Information Contact

Blase Leven
Center for Hazardous Substance Research
104 Ward Hall
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS 66506-2502

Voice: 785.532.0780
Fax: 785.532.5985
E-mail: baleven@k-state.edu