Welcome to A People's Atlas of Nuclear Colorado
Navigating the Atlas
Using the buttons on the left, you may also browse the Atlas's artworks and scholarly essays, access geolocated material on a map, and learn more about contributors to the project.
If you would like to contribute materials to the Atlas, please reach out to the editors: Sarah Kanouse (s.kanouse at northeastern.edu) and Shiloh Krupar (srk34 at georgetown.edu).
Cover Image by Shanna Merola, "An Invisible Yet Highly Energetic Form of Light," from Nuclear Winter.
Atlas design by Byse.
Funded by grants from Georgetown University and Northeastern University. Initial release September 2021.
Site
Buckley Annex
Throughout its history, the Buckley Annex property (a 76-acre portion of Lowry Air Force Base, located to the west of Buckley Air Force Base) was used for aircraft parking and maintenance, as well as storage. When the Lowry Air Force Base closed in 1994, the Annex was used to support the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) and the Air Reserve Personnel Center (ARPC). The latter provides personnel management to ensure the U.S. always has a bank of mission-ready air Guardsmen and Reservists for mobilization and Air Force augmentation. Both DFAS and ARPC, other former Annex tenants, and ongoing operations at Buckley Air Force Base—renamed the Buckley Space Force Base in 2021—are supported by the 460th Space Wing, which provides combatant commanders with global surveillance, worldwide missile warning, homeland defense, and expeditionary forces.
In 2005, Buckley itself was selected for closure, forcing a multi-year clean-up process that culminated in 2011. The Annex parcel was transferred to the Lowry Economic Redevelopment Authority in 2012 as the final phase of the large Lowry redevelopment project: an 800-unit, $165 million residential and mixed used neighborhood. However, concerns linger over contamination on the entirety of the former base (including the Buckley Annex), with possible asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls, and groundwater contamination as particular concerns. With the transfer of the property, cleanup has been effectively privatized, although the Colorado Department of Health and Environment continues to meet regularly with the Environmental Protection Agency, the Air Force, and the Redevelopment Authority for ongoing investigations, monitoring, and cleanup. In 2014, the Redevelopment Authority was granted a site-specific exception to limits on TCE (trichloroethylene) in groundwater, permitting more than double the statewide standard.
Sources
Aerospace Data Facility-Colorado/Denver Security Operations Center. "Buckley AFB, Colorado." November 28, 2011. Accessed July 17, 2020.Air Force Civil Engineer Center. "Former Buckley Annex, Colorado." Accessed July 1, 2020.
Air Force Space Command. "Defense Support Program Satellites." March 22, 2017. Accessed July 16, 2020.
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. "Lowry Air Force Base." Accessed July 1, 2020.
Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance. "Defense Systems." December 2018. Accessed July 16, 2020.
U.S. Department of the Air Force. "Department of Defense Base Closure Account—Air Force. Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Budget Estimates." Accessed August 3, 2020.
Woody, Christopher. "The U.S. Air Force Finally Has a Space Force, and Now Some of Its Bases Could Be Getting New Names." Business Insider, January 7, 2020. Accessed June 12, 2021.