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Fact Sheet - Denver, CO
Former Western Minerals Company Plant Denver, Colorado
Site Background
The former Western Minerals Products Company plant at 111 South
Navajo Street in Denver, Colorado, began operating sometime prior
to 1967. The plant operated until 1990, processing vermiculite mined
in Libby, Montana. This vermiculite was contaminated with asbestos.
The facility exfoliated ("popped" or expanded) vermiculite
to manufacture insulation and other products. Over 100,000 tons
of vermiculite were processed at the Denver site.
Since 1990, the site has been occupied by Minnesota Corn Processors,
a corn syrup manufacturer. The land around it is used primarily
for light industry, with a community baseball field to the southeast.
The nearest homes are approximately one-quarter mile away. According
to the U.S. Census, almost 13,000 people lived within one mile of
the site in 1990.
Recent EPA soil sampling at the site showed some Libby asbestos
in several areas. Much of the site, however, is covered by buildings
and an asphalt parking area. Adjacent properties, including the
baseball field, were free of asbestos contamination. Asbestos was
not detected in any of the air samples collected.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Former Workers
- Conclusion: Former Western Minerals plant workers were exposed
to hazardous levels of Libby asbestos. People who lived with former
workers were also probably exposed to hazardous levels from fibers
carried home on workers' hair and clothing.
- Recommendation: Identify former workers and their household
contacts (people who lived with them) to evaluate potential health
effects.
Current Workers
- Conclusion: Limited areas at the site contain Libby asbestos
in the soil and could pose a health hazard. Most areas are free
of contamination, however, and currently people are not frequently
in the contaminated areas. Future exposures remain possible if
construction or other activities disturb the soil beneath the
asphalt parking lot.
- Recommendation: Clean up soil that contains Libby asbestos and
develop a plan to prevent future exposures.
Past Community
- Conclusion: Not enough information is available to determine
whether people who lived near the plant were exposed to hazardous
levels of Libby asbestos. However, community exposures were probably
minor, especially compared to those for former worker exposures,
and are unlikely to lead to adverse health effects.
- Recommendation: Review new information that becomes available
to determine appropriate actions to protect public health.
Present Community
- Conclusion: Community exposure to remaining Libby asbestos onsite
is currently minimal and does not appear to pose a health hazard.
Currently not enough data are available to determine whether people
are being exposed to Libby asbestos from waste that may have been
used in the community. In other communities, vermiculite waste
has been used for a variety of purposes, such as fill, driveway
surfacing, and soil amendments.
- Recommendation: Review new information that becomes available
to determine appropriate actions to protect public health.
Consumer Products
ATSDR did not evaluate products that contain Libby vermiculite,
such as vermiculite attic insulation, as part of this project. Information
concerning vermiculite consumer products is available on ATSDR's
Web site at www.atsdr.cdc.gov/NEWS/vermiculite051603.html
and on EPA's Web site at www.epa.gov/asbestos/insulation.html.
Where can I find more information?
The public health consultation for
the Denver site is available on the Internet at www.atsdr.cdc.gov/naer/denverco/hc.html.
The document also may be reviewed in person at the following
locations:
Athmar Branch Library
1055 S. Tejon St. at W. Mississippi Ave., Denver, CO
Telephone: (303) 935-0721
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Records Center
999 18th St., North Terrace, 5th Floor, Denver, CO
Telephone: (303) 312-6473
Public input and questions are encouraged. ATSDR responses
will be provided in a separate document available to the public
and not as an additional release of this site-specific health
consultation. Comments on the health consultation must be
submitted in writing by October 31, 2003. Mail comments to:
Chief, Program Evaluation, Records and Information Services
Branch, ATSDR
1600 Clifton Rd., NE (MS E-60)
Atlanta, GA 30333
The names of those who submit comments will not be printed
in a public document. They are, however, subject to release
through requests made under the U.S. Freedom of Information
Act.
For more information, please call ATSDR toll-free at 888-422-8737
and ask to speak with Jill Dyken, Environmental Health Scientist
or Health Communications Specialists Maria Teran-MacIver or
Debra Joseph. Callers should refer to the former Western Minerals
Denver site.
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The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
is a federal public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services. ATSDR was created by the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA, also
called the Superfund law). This law established ATSDR as the federal
health agency to deal with environmental health issues at hazardous
waste sites. The agency's mission is to prevent exposure and adverse
health effects from a variety of hazardous substance sources.
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