Residents, district push back against plans to build additional Colorado gas storage tanks next to Commerce City school

Just beyond Lisa Morgan's backyard fence in Commerce City are multiple gasoline storage tanks.

"When I first moved in here, I thought that they were empty tanks," said Morgan.

In the last three years since moving into her neighborhood, she says she has experienced air quality issues and problems with her breathing.

"I've had to use my inhaler more than once," she said. "I was pre-asthmatic, but now I'm considered asthmatic since I've lived down here."

While the Magellan Pipeline-Dupont Terminal has been a part of the community for more than two decades, new plans to expand the property's gas storage is bringing up concerns among residents who have already been living with ongoing poor air quality.  

"We didn't know that the Magellan Pipeline Company had submitted a permit for an expansion," said Guadalupe Solis.

Solis is the Director of Environmental Justice Programs at Cultivando, a nonprofit dedicated to addressing the environmental concerns affecting the Latino and Latinx communities in Adams County and throughout Colorado. She says they have already conducted air quality monitoring in the community around the gas storage facility and found higher levels of methane and benzine, among other pollutants she says have already affected the community in a negative way.

"Students in Commerce City visit the emergency room 22% higher when compared to students in Adams County overall," said Solis. "I think that that makes the argument that these students are being impacted at a disproportionately higher rate, not just with asthma but other chronic diseases as well."

Last fall, Magellan Pipleline Company applied for a permit to add an additional five gasoline storage tanks to its facility in Commerce City. The proposal would mean more tanks adjacent to Morgan's neighbohood, but it would also be neighboring Dupont Elementary School.

Despite the potential impacts to the community, Solis and the Adams 14 School District only learned about this proposal last month.

"Obviously for the district there is a lot of concerns: safety concerns, health concerns, environmental concerns," said Rafael Espinoza, who is the Chief Communications Officer for the Adams 14 School District.

One of the biggest concerns, apart from pollutants that could come from these tanks, is whether this will increase the amount of flammable substances coming in and out of the facility.

"What happens if there's an explosion? How at risk are the students and the families that live nearby," asked Solis. "There are mobile homes surrounding the facility as well. So, it's not just Latinos and Latinas. It's working class families as well,  immigrant families, [and] people who don't speak English as their first language."

The state's Air Pollution and Control Division tells CBS Colorado they are still in the process of taking public comment on Magellan's permit application for gas storage expansion until Sept. 16. Once the public comment period closes, "the division will review those comments and determine if the permit meets legal requirements."

With this deadline quickly approaching, both the district and community groups are scrambling to get the word out to families and residents to try and stop this expansion from taking place.

"This was a severe oversight on behalf of the Magellan Pipeline Company and on behalf of the air pollution and control division for not doing their job to ensure the community was informed and the community was aware of what was happening and what was being proposed."

A spokesperson for CDPHE says facilities are encouraged to conduct public outreach during the pre-application process for air permits but are not required to. They also say the state agency has met with community partners and the Adams 14 school district and is aware of community concerns related to the proposed development.

Michael Ogletree, the director of the Air Pollution Control Division, issued the following statement:

 "We are prioritizing supporting the community through air monitoring and transparency, and a commitment to continue engaging with them. When reviewing air permits, the scope of our authority is defined in law – we must approve permits that comply with the law. But that does not prevent us from continuing to listen to community feedback, answer their questions, and support them however we can."

Homeowners, like Morgan, have now been helping get the word out since attending a community meeting at Dupont Elementary School hosted by Cultivando last week.

"Oh I'm definitely going to try to fight it. Because as a resident here, I don't think they should be putting more of that stuff out there," said Morgan.

While the Adams 14 school district is not officially pursuing any legal action against the project's development, Espinoza says they are taking steps to prepare for the possibility.

"The board did vote to approve chief legal counsel to represent the district in this effort," he said.

ONEOK which acquired Magellan Pipeline Company at the Dupont terminal site issued the following statement:

We have already reached out to the school district, and it is our genuine hope that — over time — we can demonstrate ONEOK's commitment to engaging meaningfully with the communities in which we operate.

Yet, plans to speak with families and community members won't be enough to quell their long-term concerns.

"What is the emergency planning and what is the public health response that the state is prepared to do when something goes wrong and especially if they're going to approve this permit. I've asked the state that multiple times," said Solis. "How are you ready to deploy healthcare, preventative care to these students, knowing that these students have higher rates of asthma, knowing that the families have higher rates of chronic diseases related to environmental contamination."

The school district and Cultivando plan to host a community meeting about the expansion project this Saturday at 10 a.m. at Adams City High School.