Did an airport contamination lawsuit create a thriving Denver wildlife refuge?
Yes. A legal settlement over contamination at the former Stapleton Airport led to the creation of the Bluff Lake Nature Center.
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Yes.
The Bluff Lake Natural Area was created as part of a settlement between the Sierra Club and the Denver Department of Aviation. Today, the 123-acre site houses the nonprofit Bluff Lake Nature Center and is home to hundreds of species of birds, mammals, insects and plants.
Before Denver’s Stapleton Airport closed in 1995, Bluff Lake was a buffer zone for plane crashes. Remaining fenced off at the end of a runway, the lake attracted a variety of wildlife. Before the airport was developed, the lake served as an irrigation pond.
The Sierra Club sued Denver’s Stapleton Airport for allowing airplane de-icing fluid to spill into the nearby Sand Creek during rain events, killing fish. Denver preserved the nearby Bluff Lake area and spent $3 million restoring it as part of the settlement.
Denver’s Department of Aviation owned the site until 2008, when it was transferred to the Bluff Lake Nature Center.
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