Page 3 - ARUBA TODAY

A3
U.S. NEWS Wednesday 31 July 2019

U.S. can't find files on investigation into nuclear arms plant

By DAN ELLIOTT show whether the govern- to criminal charges that in- at the center of the site and opened to the public
Associated Press ment did enough to clean cluded mishandling chemi- where the plutonium trig- last fall.
DENVER (AP) — The U.S. up the site before turning cal and radioactive materi- gers were built. The former In a separate case, anoth-
Department of Justice has part of it into a wildlife ref- al. The company was fined buffer zone around the er group of activists filed a
lost track of more than 60 uge and opening it to hik- $18.5 million. plant, covering 8 square federal lawsuit saying the
boxes of documents from ers and bicyclists. The government spent $7 miles (21 square kilome- government did not do
a 27-year-old criminal in- Government attorneys are billion cleaning up 2 square ters), became Rocky Flats enough to make sure the
vestigation into safety and fighting the request. miles (5 square kilometers) National Wildlife Refuge refuge is safe. q

In this Nov. 18, 2018, file photo, the Denver skyline is visible from
the prairies in the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge in Broom-
field, Colo.
Associated Press

environmental violations at The U.S. Attorney's Office in
a former nuclear weapons Denver told the activists in a
plant in Colorado, officials July 24 email that it cannot
said Tuesday. find the files. Jeff Dorsch-
The files were gathered in a ner, a spokesman for fed-
two-year grand jury probe eral prosecutors, confirmed
of the Rocky Flats plant out- the office sent the email.
side Denver, which manu- The activists plan to ask a
factured plutonium triggers federal judge on Wednes-
for nuclear warheads and day to order the Justice
had a history of fires, leaks Department to find the
and spills. documents within 30 days.
The files have remained se- The U.S. Attorney's Office
cret since the investigation said it was still trying to find
ended with criminal charg- the boxes.
es in 1992. Rocky Flats, perched on
Seven groups representing a windy plateau about 15
environmentalists, former miles (24 kilometers) north-
nuclear workers, nearby west of downtown Den-
residents and public health ver, operated from 1952 to
advocates filed a motion 1989. It shut down amid the
in federal court in Janu- grand jury investigation.
ary asking that the files be Rockwell International, the
made public. The groups contractor that operated
say the documents could the plant, pleaded guilty