Progress at Lowry

Industrial waste disposal at the Lowry Landfill ended forty years ago. Because waste will remain at the site, by law the EPA is required to conduct mandatory five-year reviews to ensure all containment activities are working as designed and to issue a finding that the remedy is “protective of human health and the environment.”

In the 2007 and 2012 Five-Year Reviews (FYR), the EPA found the remedy was “functioning as intended” and “protective of human health and the environment.” In the 2017 FYR review, the EPA requested more information and data to determine protectiveness on nine specific items. Those issues were resolved, and the EPA issued an addendum to the 2017 FYR in the summer of 2021 stating that the remedies at the site protect human health and the environment and there is no evidence of risk to the public from contamination at Lowry Landfill.

Further, in the summer of 2020, EPA published a 1,4 dioxane risk summary in collaboration with the Colorado Department of Health and Environment (CDPHE), which states that “there is no significant exposure/risk from the concentrations detected, even under (these) highly conservative, unlikely, and hypothetical exposure scenarios.”

In February 2021, EPA published an amendment to the 2017 FYR finding the remedy to be short-term protective, further corroborating its findings that there is no public health risk associated with the site.

Location of Lowry Landfill Superfund Site

Key Contacts