Who wins? Who loses?  What you need to know about the Platte to Park Hill Stormwater drainage project.

An editorial By Kimberly Morse

City Council is preparing to vote on an ordinance that will amend Denver’s Revised Municipal Code regarding charges for sanitary sewage and stormwater drainage.  If this amendment is approved all Denver wastewater rate payers will be on the hook for rate increases that will double year over year for the foreseeable future. The rate increase would take effect July 1.

Denver residents need to be aware that this wastewater fee increase will not be spread fairly for infrastructure projects throughout our neighborhoods.  A significant portion of the stormwater increase will pay for the Platte to Park Hill stormwater drainage project.   The project has been billed as necessary to protect northeast Denver neighborhoods from flooding.  Will your house or street in northeast Denver be protected by this completed project? Will your streets on the west side of Denver see relief from this project? The answer is no. In fact, neighborhood stormwater projects may be delayed in order to pay for the Platte to Park Hill project.

Northeast Denver, much of which resides in the Montclair basin or Park Hill basin, is not located within a FEMA flood plain according to the agency’s flood maps. Stormwater flows from Fairmount Cemetery north and west to Globeville and into the Platte River.  The Platte to Park Hill stormwater project puts stormwater detention in two of Denver’s historic gems, City Park Golf Course and the Park Hill Golf Course, and runs a drainage channel through Clayton and Cole neighborhoods.  Areas such as 14th and Krameria and streets in Park Hill, Montclair, Mayfair, City Park West, etc. that have experienced significant flooding in big rainstorm events will continue to flood as this project will not slow the flow of water coming from the east.

Environmental risks abound for neighbors in Cole, Clayton, Whittier, Globeville, Elyria Swansea and even Park Hill.  Lead and Arsenic were found in the soils in Cole and Clayton, prompting the EPA to declare these neighborhoods superfund sites in the 1990s.  Most residential properties were cleaned up by replacing the top 12 inches of soil. Industrial properties and streets were not cleaned.  Now Denver and its partners, CDOT and RTD, want to run a 10 foot deep channel, a mile and a half long, down 39th Avenue through an area that has risk of lead and arsenic contamination. Lead, arsenic and other toxic metal particulate contaminated the soils in Cole and Clayton in the days of the smelters. No plan has been shared with residents of Cole or other area neighborhoods who will endure health risks when the lead and arsenic laden soils are disturbed to build this channel.

The 39th Avenue channel which will be located just feet away from residential homes will carry stormwater from as far away as Fairmount Cemetery. Studies by the EPA and independent labs have revealed that urban stormwater contains harmful ingredients that the EPA categorizes as sediment, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, gasoline additives, pathogens, herbicides and pesticides.  Those elements will settle out, and garbage collect, at the forebay located in the middle of the Cole neighborhood.  Once the water subsides area residents risk the channel becoming a mosquito breeding ground.

Research into the drivers for this project which delivers little to no flood relief in northeast Denver, but which imposes environmental and health risks in this area and a financial burden on all Denver residents led neighbors to a Letter of Recommendation from a Multi-Agency Technical Team (MATT) which was developed for inter-agency collaboration for infrastructure improvements that address the drainage needs of the following projects (as stated in the LOR):

1. CDOT’s I-70 East Project from Brighton Boulevard to Colorado Boulevard

2. RTD’s North Metro Rail Line

3. CCD’s North Denver Cornerstone Collaborative (NDCC)

According to the letter of recommendation  the MATT’s “recommended technical solution is a Combined Drainage System that addresses off-site drainage for 100-year design flows from both the Montclair and Park Hill drainage basins.” The letter goes on to specifically recommend “an open channel/detention/storm sewer component running east/west along 39th Avenue,” a detention pond on the south side of I-70 and another storm sewer to convey stormwater to the Platte River.

The Platte to Park Hill stormwater project, which was not identified in the City’s September 2014 stormwater master plan, has taken priority over more than a billion dollars in un-prioritized stormwater projects, projects that will provide relief to residents all over Denver who have endured local flooding.

City Council will review the ordinance for amending Denver’s Revised Municipal Code on Tuesday, May 31st . Contact your City Council representative as well as our At Large Council Members and ask them to vote no on increasing your wastewater fee for Platte to Park Hill and yes to investing in projects that protect Denver residents.

**MATT LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION_1-20-15_Final-5