Sand Creek Named Major Beneficiary of Natural Resource Damage Funding

The Sand Creek Regional Greenway Partnership (SCRGP) will receive $4.65 million of the $10 million in settlement funds allocated from the Natural Resource Damage (NRD) lawsuit with Shell Oil Company and the U.S. Army for environmental damages dating to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal and related activities. $2.6 million will be invested in the western portion at Commerce City.

In Aurora, $2 million will buy land on the Sand Creek Regional Greenway and the new Triple Creek Greenway, which will link the Greenway’s current terminus near East Colfax Avenue, and the Aurora Reservoir, 14 miles southeast.

The settlement announced this summer is the culmination of eight years of work by the Sand Creek Regional Greenway Partnership. “Rarely do groups work together to reach conclusions that benefit so many,” said SCRGP Executive Director Kate Kramer about the allocation process. “The legacy of the Northeast Greenway Corridor is that working together gives future generations a gift that cannot be measured in dollars.”

For more information on the Sand Creek Regional Greenway, visit sandcreekgreenway.org.