A U.S. Department of Energy official said Friday that his agency will continue to store 500 boxes of Rocky Flats-related documents while evaluating storage options in Colorado.
“As part of our evaluation, we will consider the most appropriate way to make this information available to the public,” Michael Owen, director of DOE’s Office of Legacy Management, wrote in letters to members of Colorado’s congressional delegation.
Contents of the boxes, which had been housed in the Rocky Flats reading room at Front Range Community College until December, will be preserved “for litigation purposes and protecting sensitive information,” Owen’s letter stated.
U.S. Reps. Mark Udall, Ed Perlmutter and John Salazar, and Sen. Ken Salazar joined a local coalition of Rocky Flats-area governments in expressing concern about DOE’s plans to destroy the documents.
DOE had planned to give the documents to the archives at the University of Colorado at Boulder but then discovered personal information — including Social Security numbers — in some documents.
The Front Range librarian who was the documents’ caretaker said some documents may not exist elsewhere. Delegation members said they were pleased with DOE’s decision.
“These records are critical for former workers who may be struggling to gather information needed to make illness claims related to exposure they received while working at Rocky Flats,” said Perlmutter.
Udall said it is “imperative that any and all information related to Rocky Flats workers be maintained and protected.”
Ann Schrader: 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com
