Lowry Landfill Superfund Site Oversite Program

Owned by the City and County of Denver and operated by Waste Management Inc., the 507-acre Lowry Landfill site is located near the intersection of Quincy Avenue and Gun Club Road in Arapahoe County, 15 miles southeast of downtown Denver in Colorado.  Deeded in 1964 to the City and County of Denver, which still owns the site, the land was used as a landfill accepting municipal and industrial liquid waste from businesses and residences in the Denver metro area until 1980.  After that, it accepted only municipal waste until 1990, when it ceased landfill operations.       

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Waste disposed at Lowry Landfill in the 1960s and ’70s included an estimated 138 million gallons of liquid industrial wastes, including chemicals, solvents and sludges. It was determined that those wastes had contaminated soil and groundwater beneath the site and produced landfill gases. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency placed Lowry Landfill on its National Priorities List in 1984, which made the site eligible for cleanup under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, otherwise known as “Superfund.”
Monitoring the Environment
Tri-County Health Department's Lowry Landfill Superfund Site Oversight Program monitors ground water, air pollution emission permits and waste handing in regard to remediation activities in order to verify that cleanup activities are protective to public health and the environment.  The program monitors domestic water wells and provides technical assistance to local residents.