by Mark Smiley | Jan 29, 2016 | Travel
56 Units And ‘ZERO PARKING’
by Glen Richardson
The City and County of Denver has become nationally known for approving apartment projects with extremely low parking requirements under the apparent theory that it will force its residents to walk, ride a bike, take public transportation or utilize taxi cabs/Uber vehicles. Families with kids are apparently not deemed likely to want to move to Denver anytime in the immediate future, just young single members of the millennium generation.
Denver is also believed to be the only major city planning department in the United States that as a matter of public policy refuses to consider the impact of increased traffic because of a development. Real estate developers are said to control both the office of the mayor of Denver, Michael Hancock, and the majority of the 13 member Denver City Council which must approve real estate projects according to the City Charter. Most developers want as little required parking as possible since it significantly increases the price of a project. Often the lack of parking becomes a major problem in the future for such projects, but the developer is usually long gone from the scene.
One of the newest projects in one of Denver’s oldest neighborhoods, Curtis Park, is slated to have 56 micro-units of 300 square feet each and no parking to the outrage of Curtis Park residents. The on-street parking in the area, according to neighborhood residents, is already extremely tight.
Apparently there is not a plan filed with the Denver City Planning and Development Department for the project. However, there have been numerous meetings between the developer, Gaddis Properties, and Councilman Albus Brooks who, according to insiders, has all but given a green light to the project.
The small property is located at 32nd and Stout Street and the residents indicate that a purported exemption for parking was intended for a small commercial business and not a 56 unit apartment house. City records indicate that the property was once used for an auto service garage. In fact residents also indicate that six more square feet and the exemption would not even apply to a small commercial business.
At a heated and angry meeting between Doug Gaddis and resident Andrew Kowalyshyn, reports are that Gaddis stated the residents were lucky he didn’t build a 70 unit building and that no parking was needed anyway as none of the future tenants or their visiting friends or family would ever use a car, a proposition met with incredulity with the people at the meeting. Summing up the feelings of the neighborhood Kowalyshyn stated of Gaddis, “This guy is just a complete bullshit artist.”
Councilman Albus Brooks told local television stations that neither he nor the city could force Gaddis to provide parking. City insiders indicate that virtually any development in Denver requires some variances and waivers by a city and the city could refuse to grant the same without Mr. Gaddis providing some parking, but is simply unlikely to do so.
Neighborhood activist David Johnson noted, “The fix is in, as always. The Planning Department does not plan and Denver councilmen like Albus Brooks don’t represent the residents. There is no part of the city that the epidemic of overdevelopment corruption is not affecting and destroying our neighborhoods. With Gaddis we are evolving from the ‘limited parking’ stage to the ‘absolutely no parking’ stage. How to change a beautiful city with wonderful neighborhoods to an overcrowded dump.”
by Mark Smiley | Dec 17, 2015 | Travel
Residents Hate The Iconic Structure Designed To Gain Political Favor
With Bike Advocacy Groups
A pedestrian and bicycle bridge that crosses over I-25 at Colorado Blvd. linking the area to the light rail station opened 16 years and $8 million after Denver initially contemplated the project. Since opening in July 2015 many are asking if the bridge is a benefit or boondoggle to an area that grew up in the golden age of automobiles?
As the neighborhood and surrounding business community has matured many are unsure whether being retrofitted for pedestrians, bicycles and public transit is a blessing. Developed mostly during the 1950s and 1960s, this established neighborhood is an eclectic mix of single-family ranch homes, apartment buildings and townhomes, along with shopping centers and mid- to high-rise office buildings.
The initial reaction of many: They hate it! They are displeased and disturbed with the lack of parking spaces and believe the ramp is ugly. They are also unhappy with the increased noise and activity created by bicyclists and people going to and coming from work. Someone even wrote on the DownhomeDenver blog that there’s no reason for the bridge that was paid for with $4 million in City Capital Improvement Funds and $4 million in Federal Transportation Funds. Others, however, believe that the vast majority of residents other than the four or five buildings’ worth living at the base of the access ramp, approve of the bridge or have no opinion.
Taken For A Ride?
The north-south freeway previously separated inhabitants from the light rail link known as the Colorado Station. Now, however, the bridge connects the transit hub with Cherry St. and the Virginia Village neighborhood to the east. Access over I-25 is in the vicinity of Colorado Blvd. and East Evans Ave.
The bridge spans I-25, landing at Cherry St. to the north and RTD’s Colorado Station (light rail transit) to the south. The bridge was built to provide a safe way for bike riders and walkers to cross over I-25 without using Colorado Blvd., a street filled with rushing cars day and night. A biker named Bob stopped on the bridge by the Chronicle refused to give his last name but said he believes the bridge is worth every penny. He uses it fairly frequently now that he’s discovered it but can’t believe how few others do use it.
The bridge was theoretically built to increase connectivity to the Colorado Station, which boasted 5,600 arrivals and boarding per day prior to the bridge opening. That number hasn’t increased dramatically in the months since the opening. Only 2% of RTD’s ridership is by bike and at the Colorado Station that number hasn’t yet jumped appreciably. Most of those walking to the station don’t cross the bridge but are walking from the nearby parking lot.
Bicker With Bikers
For many the bridge also symbolizes the 
increasing squabble between motorists and bikers due to Denver’s policy of being hostile to automobile drivers and friendly to bikers. Denver drivers are constantly in a state of irritation due to the City’s implementing of Denver Moves Bicycles, a network plan of installing protected bike lanes, installing bicycle detection and signal upgrades that speed cyclists ahead while slowing down auto traffic.
Road Diets — a plan being advanced by Denver’s Planning Department — entails converting four-lane undivided roadways to two-lane roadways. Furthermore the plan provides for a two-way left turn lane by removing a travel lane in each direction. The remaining roadway width is converted to bike lanes. Staunch bicycle supporters argue that these road diets actually reduce overall traffic. Bicycling is growing beyond just being a part of Denver Public Work’s and Parks & Recreation programs. Denver added three full-time individuals to the bike program in 2014 to help implement bicycle projects and improvements.
Motorists complain that cyclists ride on their merry way oblivious to drivers, don’t obey traffic lights or anything or everyone else that get in their way. “They don’t look around, don’t care about their own safety or those of the people they are distracting,” says Cherry Creek resident Latasha Curry.
Engineering & Art
Work on the bridge began on March 17, 2014, with initial construction focusing on fabrication and installation of the steel pedestrian railing on the main span over I-25 and the approach spans on either side of I-25. The arch was successfully set into place on the night of Jan. 16, 2015. The installation of the railing on the main span started on the west side of the bridge and progressed to the east. Project lighting followed the progress of the steel railing.
The high point to completion of the bridge was construction of the concrete deck. The concrete was poured into a 309-foot long truss — a little longer than a football field — and weighed close to 200 tons. That’s equivalent to about 18,700 gallons of concrete and required 10 concrete trucks and two big “pumpers” to pour concrete into the truss. The work often required full overnight closure of I-25 from Colorado Blvd. to Evans Ave.
Artwork titled A Mindful Bridge by North Carolina artists Jim Hirschfield and Sonya Ishii was installed on the bridge during the week of Sept. 29-Oct. 3, 2015. They are an array of shimmering circular stainless steel disks attached to the interior of the bridge. The disks contain quotes about the experiences of people walking or cycling while crossing a bridge. A Denver ordinance enacted in 1991 directs that 1% of any capital improvement project over $1 million undertaken by the City be set aside for the inclusion of art in the design and construction of those projects.
Catalyst For Growth
Construction of the bridge has become a catalyst for new development within the area and more is anticipated. Lincoln Property Company and ASB Real Estate Investments are building a new mixed use development
, adding more than 450,000 square feet of commercial and residential space to the nearby Colorado Center.
Real estate professionals suggest that the site has the potential to become Denver’s largest transit oriented development (TOD). Their point: With the light rail station plus the pedestrian-bicycle bridge, access to the site is unprecedented, creating a community center for the surrounding neighborhoods and I-25 corridor.
At the intersection of I-25 and Colorado Blvd. the additions will add 210,000 square-feet of office buildings plus a residential tower containing 189 apartments and 80 loft-style units. A 40,000 square foot Main Street retail section is also planned. The Center already features three office buildings plus the Dave & Busters-United Artists complex. New office space will add eight stories over five levels of parking. Retail space will be located within the residential development. Construction of the office space is expected to be complete in Dec. 2016 and the residential portion in mid-2017.
by Mark Smiley | Nov 23, 2015 | Travel
by Casey Bloyer
The holidays are a wonderful time to be a beer nerd. I revel in the opportunity to pair beer with a variety of celebratory meals and gatherings. Those congregations with family and friends can also provide a chance to become a beer evangelist to those less experienced with the variety of flavors local brews offer. Is the impending arrival of in-laws causing anxiety? A nice dose of Colorado craft beer can help ease the tension there, too. Of course the best part is the gifts. Whether giving or receiving, it’s all part of the communal nature of Colorado’s craft scene. Here are a few fun gift ideas for the drinker who has it all.
Personal Growler: ($35-$130) Yes, this is about as cliché as it gets. Yet, you also can’t really go wrong here, either. Brands such as FIFTY/FIFTY, Miir and Hydro Flask offer stainless steel, vacuum insulated carriers for your loved ones’ loved one: beer. They double as durable, insulated carriers for other liquids when the beer’s gone. Just about every local brewery sells and fills its own version as well. Traditionally a growler is 64 ounces but some companies now offer co2 pressurized versions with taps as large as 128 oz. Think of a mini keg in your fridge. Drink Tanks and ManCan are among the offerings in the pressurized growler market. But for looks alone, I prefer the uKeg from Portland’s Growler Werks. The uKeg looks great with copper, steel and brass options, but it is less versatile and more difficult to clean.
Local Brewery Gear: T-Shirts, hats, stickers, glassware. No, we can’t have too much. Some of brewski-reviewski’s favorite local brewery logos include Broken Compass (Breckenridge), Cerebral (Denver), Elevation (Poncha Springs), Liquid Mechanics (Lafayette), Mockery (RiNo), Ska (Durango), 3 Freaks (Highlands Ranch) and 38 State (Littleton), just to name a few.
Laws Whiskey: ($65-$70) Laws Whiskey House has been very good to the local craft brewing community, bucking my own notion that distillers didn’t often embrace the cooperative aspect of the craft brewing culture. Brewers both acknowledged and reciprocated that spirit for the distillery’s recent anniversary celebration, donating a number of free brews, which were available to fans throughout the celebration at no cost. The neighborhood distillery was started by Al Laws and includes some former staffers who left Stranahans, after Proximo Spirits (owner of Jose Cuervo) purchased the Stranahans distillery. Laws employs local family farms, where it sources its wheat, barley and rye. I sampled Laws latest rye batch whiskey at the distillery’s first anniversary party earlier this year. My take away? Smooth. Very, very smooth. Single barrel offerings are available for purchase at the Denver distillery (1420 S. Acoma Street) and at about 20 local liquor stores. A rye was also released by the distillery in mid-November. Find your closest carrier at the Laws website. www.lawswhiskey house.com/whiskey-locator/.
Whiskey Advent Calendar: ($190 -$320) Looking for a new twist on the annual advent calendar tradition? Master of Malt has the answer, offering advent calendars with various spirits including cognac, rum, whiskey and tequila. Behind each of the 24 windows lies a different 3cl “Drinks By The Dram” sample of whisky. Highlights among this year’s 24 drams include a rare 50-year-old Scotch, an award-winning Japanese whisky and the winner of the 2014 World Whiskies Awards. Each handmade, wax-sealed dram allows whisky fans to sample a new whisky, tasting everything from single grain whisky to rare Scotch. In my rudimentary and uncertain conversion, each bottle includes one ounce of whiskey. Purchase online at www.masterofmalt.com
Hops: ($6-$40) You are almost certain to get “unique” points for gifting hops to the beer fan in your circle. Michigan’s Black Creek Hops has you covered, offering everything from hops related ornaments to herbal hops tea and even pillows filled with hops designed to help ease of sleep. Black Creek Hops is a small scale hop farm run by a husband and wife team in Scottville, Michigan. They are also happy to send whole cone, noble hops if you’re shopping for a homebrewer. www.etsy.com/shop/ blackcreekhops.
Hopefully this gets you started on your gift search for the beer lover in your life. We both send you wishes for a healthy, happy and hoppy holiday season. Until next year, raise your glass!
Casey Bloyer is the Executive Producer of The Peter Boyles Show and The Dan Caplis Show. He is the co-host of Brewski-Reviewski with Connor Shreve who is the Sports Director at 710KNUS. Brewski-Reviewski is a bi-monthly podcast talking about all things craft beer in Colorado. Twitter @Breviewski; Facebook www. facebook.com/craftbeerradio; email brcraftbeer @gmail.com.
by Mark Smiley | Nov 2, 2015 | Travel
by Mark Smiley
Cherry Creek Valley resident Elizabeth (Biz) Erickson, age 31, watched as her sister Emily, age 36, slowly wasted away and began to die from the liver disease Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) as she waited for a transplanted liver from a cadaver. Football legend Walter Payton died from PSC at age 45 and now his football coach Mike Ditka has the very same disease.
Every year thousands die while waiting for a cadaver liver which never comes. Emily’s dilemma was made even more acute from the fact that she has a relatively rare blood type, AB+. Elizabeth could no longer watch her sister suffer and volunteered to help try to save her sister’s life by offering the gift of her own liver or more accurately, 65% of her liver. Luckily livers are one of the most regenerative portions of the human anatomy and if the operation is successful, both women will eventually have full livers. But the operation is not without serious risks for both the donee and the donor.
Out of every 100 people who receive a liver transplant using a living donor, 78 will live for five years or more and 22 will die from the transplant. The odds for the donor are better with approximately one in five hundred dying from the operation.
Transplant
On December 8, 2015, University of Colorado Hospital (UCH) surgeons will transplant a portion of Elizabeth’s liver in Emily’s body. The sisters will spend 5-10 days at UCH and once they are stable, they will be taken to a transplant recovery area to continue recuperating. It takes about 2-4 months of rest, rejuvenation, and regeneration at home. The liver will regenerate in Biz’s body within months and there is a chance that Emily may be close to feeling 100% in six weeks, a feeling that she has not had in over 13 years.
The sisters’ mother, Kathy Barrett, stated, “This is an unbelievable gift Elizabeth is giving to her sister. Elizabeth is my hero too. This is the kind of person she is. This is what she is supposed to do. I’m not even that scared.”
PSC is a chronic disorder of the liver in which the bile ducts outside the liver (the extrahepatic bile ducts) and often the bile ducts inside the liver become inflamed, thickened (sclerotic), narrowed, and finally obstructed. This is a progressive process that can in time destroy the bile ducts.
Thirteen years ago after Emily gave birth to her son she had severe itching which created painful scabs. Her liver enzymes were evaluated and she was initially diagnosed with hepatitis. But after a visit to the Mayo Clinic, her diagnosis was changed to PSC. Her mother Kathy remembers these days vividly. “For me, this has been such a long journey. In the beginning, I was mamma bear and I wanted to fight for the whole thing,” said Kathy. “The first time she got sick, I was off the charts crazy. But then a calm came over me and I said, ‘I can’t control this.’”
The symptoms that Emily currently deals with are extreme fatigue, itching, and a reversed sleep cycle. Her two children are now 13 and 9 years of age. They struggle to understand why their mom is always tired. This transplant is necessary to give her children the childhood she feels they deserve. “I feel like I am living someone else’s life,” said Emily. “I have a lot of guilt associated with it [being tired around her children]. I have no energy to do anything. But if this operation is successful my children will see for the first time the energetic and joyful person that their mother was before PSC struck.”
Support Group
Emily relies heavily on a support group based in Colorado. She attends regular conferences and gets advice from experts. PSC Partners Seeking a Cure, headquartered in Englewood, Colo., is a volunteer organization that was formed in 2005 to provide PSC patients and their caregivers education and support and to raise funds to research the origins of and a cure for the disease.
Donor Alliance
While Emily will be receiving a live transplant from her sister most individuals with PSC must depend upon a liver from a cadaver. Sixty-seven percent of adult Coloradans have registered to be an organ and tissue donor which is a much higher percent than most states.
The registration process is through an organization called Donor Alliance, headquartered in Glendale, Colo. Donor Alliance is an organization that facilitates the donation and recovery of transplantable organs and tissues; the mission is to save lives through organ and tissue donation and transplantation. Every 10 minutes, another person is added to the waiting list.
After waiting on the list, Emily grew increasingly more frustrated. “I made myself inactive because I was scared. I had gotten sicker and sicker. I was in the hospital in early September with fluid buildup.” That fluid buildup became infected which made Emily’s disease more life threatening and Biz’s donation all the more vital.
As children growing up, Emily and Elizabeth, along with their sister Kate (who will be flying into Denver to be with her mom during the operation), were normal, everyday sisters. “Emily was the boss as the older child,” said Kathy Barrett. For example, she would have them pay her to go into her room.”
Now, Elizabeth has the ability to give her sister Emily the greatest payment anyone could ask for. “You get to give the most beautiful gift that anyone can give, which is the gift of life,” said Elizabeth.
For more information about organ and tissue donation, visit DonorAlliance.org. To register to be an organ and tissue donor, visit DonateLifeColorado.org or call 303-329-4747 for more information. For help or support, visit the PSC Partners website at www.pscpartners.org.
by Mark Smiley | Sep 25, 2015 | Travel
by Megan Carthel
The walls of Koko FitClub, located at 6231 E. 14th Ave. in Mayfair, aren’t lined with mirrors and weight racks. Instead, a simple layout with a handful of elliptical, treadmill and weight machines fill out the small space. In fact, no mirrors will be found in this gym, and that’s just the point. “It’s not about being skinny or weighing 120 pounds,” franchise owner Jennifer Mercado said. “It’s about being strong.”
It’s no secret that Americans aren’t the trimmest. The National Institute of Health estimates nearly 70 percent of Americans ages 20 and up are overweight or obese. Mercado and her husband, Kevin, along with Koko Fitness, are trying to make that statistic smaller. After he suffered a heart attack at age 39, the Mercados knew they needed to change their lifestyle.
At Koko FitClub, technology is the personal trainer. It’s a marriage of both computers and fitness — a metaphorical match to the Mercados. Kevin, a software engineer, and Jennifer, a runner and formerly from a corporate environment, blend with the gym. “For me,” Mercado said, “it seems like one of the smartest ways technology can be there to help people get better and improve their life.”
So how is technology helping people lose weight? The answer is much like a game. Each member has their own website and USB drive that retains all of their information, such as height, weight, BMI, workouts and nutrition. Each workout is pre-planned and tailored to each member. Every part of the experience is tracked and designed to motivate. Club members carry their USB flash drives on colored lanyards correlated to the amount of time they’ve been training at the gym. Mercado said it’s a way for members to show pride in their progress.
A screen in the middle of the gym proudly flaunts member names on a “leader board” for perfect workouts. While burning calories, club members can have their pick of scenic routes and keep up with a pacemaker. At the end of each workout, members are rewarded with points. A perfect workout gets a member a free
T-shirt and their name on the leader board. Think of a gold star sticker, but for adults.
“It makes it a little fun, but it’s a great workout,” said club member Daniel Kraus, 29. Kraus said he’s never been a fanatic of gyms, but the streamlined ease of Koko is a perfect fit for him.
Kathy Adams, a 70-year-old member, said she checks the leader board every time she works out. This was a surprise to Adams who said she has always been a “do-it-yourselfer.” This simple work-for-reward technique seems to be one of the key motivational points for Koko FitClub. “It is that feeling, I think,” Mercado said, “that people just want to be recognized for working hard and feeling good about it.”
And, in a world of instant gratification, instant results can undoubtedly be motivational — and that’s what the technology at Koko FitClub can provide people. It’s real time data showing real time results. “The numbers don’t lie,” Adams said. “That in itself is very motivating. You can start seeing improvement. You don’t think you’re getting better, you know on paper you’re getting better and stronger.”
Mercado said many people quit trying to get healthy and lose weight because they don’t see results. The “smart trainer,” as it’s called, keeps track of the improvement each member makes during their workouts and shares the data instantly as well as on a personalized website. Koko FitClub seems to have found a way to simplify a very complicated thing. When club members come into the gym, everything is mapped out for them, from weight to reps.
Nutrition isn’t spared, either. Recipes and meal guidelines are part of each member’s website — something that Nel Lenhart, 50, a club member, said has made a positive impact on her family. The gym itself gives off a family feeling. Lenhart describes the atmosphere as “encouraging” and “comfortable.” Mercado said when people go into a large gym environment, they can sometimes be intimidated and uncomfortable asking for help, the exact opposite of what Mercado and the Koko FitClub conveys. “You get the sense that people are glad I’m here, and they’re proud of me for showing up,” Lenhart said.
Because the workouts are easy to follow, the fear of being “that person” at the gym is basically eliminated. “You don’t have to worry about the whole gym thing, going in with all these people, not knowing what you’re doing or waiting for this machine or that machine,” Kraus said. Koko FitClub supports a friendly environment and pushes the goal of health, not just quick weight loss. “We are the life prescription keeping people healthy,” Mercado said.
For more information call 303-872-8380 or visit kokodenver.com.
by Mark Smiley | Aug 31, 2015 | Travel
by Josh Schlossberg
The Denver Zoo is more than halfway through the construction of a first-of-its-kind energy facility to be fueled by elephant manure and trash — including plastic and food scraps — that would provide 20 percent of the Zoo’s electricity, and heat its elephant exhibit.
The self-described “greenest 
zoo in the country” is framing its plan to convert millions of pounds of annual waste into an alternative fuel source as an environmental leap forward that will help it achieve its goal of Zero Waste by 2025.
Critics, however, including local residents, the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Sierra Club, the former director of the American Environmental Health Studies Project, and a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) scientist, voice concerns ranging from air pollution, undermining of recycling and composting efforts, and environmental justice issues.
The Denver Zoo declined requests by this reporter for a tour, interview, or statement for this article.
Green Light For Green Energy?
The Zoo’s “biomass gasification system” has been 10 years in the making, developed by Zoo staff in partnership with the City and County of Denver, National Renewable Energy Labs, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), Colorado School of Mines, and University of Colorado.
The facility, which is 50 to 75 percent installed, according to minutes from a June 3, 2015, Denver Zoological Foundation meeting, is located in the Toyota Elephant Passage Exhibit on the Zoo’s southern boundary, adjacent to Duck Lake in City Park.
The project has undergone technical review by CDPHE and the City Council, received its construction permit, and is awaiting approval for an air permit. The State also issued water quality and sewer use permits, though a wastewater permit will not be granted until the facility is operational and liquid waste can be analyzed for potential contaminants.
Fuel To The Fire
The Denver Zoo gasifier will source its fuel from 750,000 pounds of elephant dung per year, along with 3 million pounds of waste from the zoo and outside sources, including: wood chips, food waste, waste paper, biodegradable plastic, non-biodegradable plastic, aluminum and other metals, according to a June 20, 2013, email exchange between EPA and CDPHE. Denver Zoological Foundation minutes state that fuel will be “87-89% biomass depending on the season.”
The materials will be shredded, dried, and converted into pellets and exposed to high temperatures in a low-oxygen environment to create a combustible synthetic gas (syngas), that will be mixed with natural gas to power generators, supplying 20% of the Zoo’s electricity. The leftover heat will run through pipes to heat the Toyota Elephant Passage Exhibit.
The facility is permitted as a controlled partial combustion system, with some aspects of the technology kept from the public as trade secrets. Trash and biomass gasifiers are still in the experimental stages and “not yet proven in commercial applications,” according to the National Renewable Energy Labs.
While the Zoo has avoided the use of the term incinerator, the EPA-funded Combustion Portal defines an OSWI (Other
Solid Waste Incinerator) as “incinerators that due to their small size or other characteristics are not covered under other incinerator air emissions regulations.” The Zoo’s Engineering Design and Operations Plan (EDOP) states that the Zoo will follow the OSWI requirements, while referring to the “incineration (thermal conversion) of waste material.”
The construction permit issued by CDPHE explains that the facility will utilize a thermal oxidizer — which the EPA refers to as a thermal incinerator — for start up and shut down, where excess gas will be combusted in a flare.
Zoo staff will remove tars that build up in the scrubber and send them through the gasifier. Up to 60,000 pounds of ash per year will be a byproduct of operations, which will be landfilled.
The Solution To Pollution
The facility’s potential impact on local air quality and effects on public health is the main concern of neighbors.
According to the construction permit, the facility can emit up to the following levels of air pollutants per year: 6.3 tons of particulate matter (PM), 6.3 tons of PM 10, 6.3 tons of PM 2.5, (which can cause lung disease), 14.6 tons of Nitrogen Oxides (respiratory problems), 0.22 tons of Sulfur Dioxide (respiratory), 9.3 tons of Volatile Organic Compounds (which are carcinogenic), and 31.8 tons of Carbon Monoxide (reduces oxygen to heart, brain, and tissues).
The Zoo will also emit small amounts of dioxins, which, according to the EPA, are “highly toxic and can cause cancer, reproductive and development problems, damage to the immune system, and can interfere with hormones.”
Paul Connett, PhD, former director of the American Environmental Health Studies Project and author of the book Zero Waste Solution, spoke at the Ford-Warren Branch of Denver Public Library on July 30 about the health and environmental impacts of trash incineration and gasification.
“You should not be conducting such experiments in a residential area or near exotic animals that may be super sensitive to some of the air pollutants,” said Connett of the Zoo’s gasifier. “This project can only be considered an ongoing experiment.”
Joan Seeman, Toxics Issue Chair of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Sierra Club, said the group “does not support the Denver Zoo’s waste to energy incineration system.”
“It has proven impossible for industry to develop a combustion process that does not produce unacceptable toxic and hazardous air emissions,” said Seeman.
Bridget Walsh, a City Park neighbor, and one of the leading voices against the Zoo’s facility, said the Zoo’s presentation of the facility to the public has been “lacking in detail about serious health and safety risks.”
The siting of the facility has also attracted the attention of the federal government. Kendra Morrison, environmental scientist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Permitting, Modeling, and Monitoring Unit, wrote in a June 19, 2013, email to CDPHE that that facility is being built in the “heart of the city near sensitive populations, both in terms of EJ [environmental justice] communities and ecological populations.”
Environmental justice, as defined by EPA, includes “fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income.”
Waste Not, Want Not
The Denver Zoo characterizes the facility as part of its plan to achieve Zero Waste by 2025. However, Zero Waste International Alliance, which has adopted a peer-reviewed internationally accepted definition of Zero Waste, defines it as products or processes that “conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury them.”
Kate Bailey, Program Developer for Eco-Cycle, a community recycling processor and Zero Waste advocacy organization based in Boulder, doesn’t buy the Zoo’s Zero Waste claims.
“We believe that materials should be recycled or composted first,” said Bailey. “Our understanding is that this facility is taking away some of these materials that can be recycled and fed to the plant instead, undermining current recycling efforts.”
Currently, the 750,000 yearly pounds of elephant manure is routed through an undisputed Zero Waste pathway, A1 Organics. The industrial composting company based in Eaton, Colorado, has been processing the material into compost for soil amendments for years.
“We’ve enjoyed our relationship and loved the product and always been willing to compost it,” said Bob Yost, Vice President and Chief Technical Officer for A1 Organics.
The 60,000 yearly pounds of ash produced by the facility, destined for the landfill, will contain varying levels of heavy metals including arsenic, barium, chromium, cadmium, lead, selenium, and silver. Other waste byproducts include scrubber residues, which consist of tars, liquids, and acids.
Passing Gas
Though the gasifier has been advertised by the Zoo as an alternative energy facility powered by renewable energy, it will also burn up to 7 MMBTU/hr of natural gas, along with trash and manure.
According to a plaque at the Zoo, Encana Oil & Gas gave $500,000+ to the project, while Pioneer Natural Resources (which closed its Denver office in May) made a $25,000-99,000 financial contribution, to “show the public how natural gas can solve both economic and environmental challenges.”
Western Energy Alliance, “the voice of the Western oil and natural gas industry,” donated “under” $25,000. On its website, the Alliance refers to “overregulation at the federal level” of oil and gas production, including the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing or fracking for natural gas. Mesa Energy Partners, an oil and gas development firm, also contributed “under” $25,000.
Safety First
Aside from the routine emissions from the facility, some neighbors worry about accidents that may pose a risk to the public.
The Zoo produced a January 2014 document detailing what would happen in case of an “upset condition,” which can involve temperature or pressure exceedance, high levels of carbon monoxide or hydrogen, or other malfunctions and errors. In these cases, the gas would be directed through a release valve on the roof of the facility or through the flare, and operations would be shut down.
Waste-to-Energy Plant Process Safety Challenges, a 2011 study from the UK, notes that gasification facilities involve safety issues similar to chemical process plants, warning of “explosion hazards, fire hazards and toxic gas.”
Intelligent Energy for Europe, a project of the European Commission to support renewable energy, delineates some dangers of gasifiers in their 2009 document, Final Guideline for Safe and Eco-Friendly Gasification, specifically “increased hazard potential due to the fact that a potentially explosive, toxic and combustible gas mixture is produced and consumed.”
“Poisoning, danger of suffocation…and pollution of the environment and plant vicinity,” from the release of hazardous gases and liquids, are noted. Where pressure builds up, gas can escape into the atmosphere resulting in a “toxic atmosphere.”
Toxic liquid escapes can lead to environmental hazards and pollution.” If flammable, there is the risk of formation of “a combustible vapour cloud.”
Green Or Gross?
The Denver Zoo has invested millions of dollars to generate a fifth of its electricity through its waste stream, and in doing so, has gotten pushback from locals, advocacy groups, and scientists. Will the Zoo’s installation of this experimental “waste-to-energy” facility ultimately enhance the Zoo’s green profile, as intended, or will it sour relationships with Denver residents, neighborhood associations, and environmentalists?
Many questions remain in regard to sustainability, air pollution, and environmental justice issues surrounding the project and resident complaints of the Zoo’s unwillingness to communicate with them only fuel the controversy.
Since Zoo officials have chosen not to engage in further dialogue with Denver residents nor speak with the media, unless the project falls through, it seems that questions will only be answered once the facility is up and running.
