The Environmental Protection Agency honored the Rocky Mountain Arsenal with the EPA National Notable Achievements Award for Land Revitalization on June 13, 2007.

The award, which was given to a multiagency team, recognized the exceptional efforts involved in removing more than 13,000 acres of land from EPA's National Priorities List (NPL) after cleanup actions at the Arsenal were complete. This paved the way for the U.S. Army to transfer land for development purposes and to establish and later expand the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge). These transfers were credited for revitalizing the neighboring communities of Commerce City and Montbello.

Representatives from the Army, EPA, State of Colorado and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) accepted the award at a special ceremony in Washington D.C. EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson recognized the Arsenal's exceptional accomplishments and remarked about his visits to the site celebrating the establishment and expansion of the Refuge.

"We are honored to receive this EPA award," said Charlie Scharmann, program manager for the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. "This is a great example of the public and private sector working together to benefit the community."

Located about 10 miles northeast Denver, Colorado, the Arsenal is one of the nation's largest environmental cleanup sites. The U.S. Army built the site in 1942 to manufacture chemical weapons and later leased the facilities to Shell to manufacture agricultural chemicals. Since the 1980s, the U.S. Army and Shell have been working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to transform the site into a premier urban national wildlife refuge.

The first Arsenal property to be removed from the NPL occurred in 2003 and it made approximately 1,000 acres available for commercial and retail developments in neighboring Commerce City. After the land was removed from the NPL and sold, by the Army, to Commerce City, the city was able to plan and approve several notable economic revitalization projects. The commercial development anchor is the world's largest soccer stadium complex, which opened in April 2007. The complex includes an 18,000-seat stadium and 24 lighted soccer fields dedicated to youth soccer. Planning is underway for additional commercial and retail outlets to surround the new stadium.

In 2004 and again in 2006, a total of 12,000 acres (two-thirds of the site) were removed from the NPL. This land was transferred from the U.S. Army to the Service for inclusion into the National Wildlife Refuge System. These land transfers officially established and later expanded the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, one of the largest urban refuges in the country. The Refuge is also one of the largest open spaces in the Denver Metropolitan area.

Visitation at the Refuge continues to grow as a result of significant public outreach, particularly for inner-city youth and the Spanish-speaking community members, and growing partnerships for wildlife-based education, interpretation, and recreation. Since 2004, more than 30,000 people have visited the Refuge and learned about the National Wildlife Refuge System and Arsenal history. The Refuge is home to more than 330 species of wildlife, including wild bison, bald eagles, burrowing owls and deer.

Wild bison became the newest wildlife residents, when 16 animals arrived at the Refuge mid-March, as part of a nationwide conservation effort. Unlike animals bred as livestock for agricultural purposes, these magnificent wild animals contain significant genetic material with low or no detectable cattle genes. By early May, three calves were born increasing the herd size to 19 and have made the Refuge a major attraction. The reintroduction of wild bison to the Refuge bring the Denver area population to what it was more than a century ago.

Close to 80 percent of the site has been removed from the NPL, and the transformation of the Arsenal from a former chemical weapons manufacturing site into a premier urban national wildlife refuge continues. After the Arsenal's remaining cleanup projects are complete and removed from the NPL, the Army will transfer approximately 2,800 additional acres to the Service to further expand the Refuge. By 2011, the cleanup program will be finished, and the Army will retain approximately 1,100 acres to maintain its landfills and groundwater treatment plants.