Xcel to pay Boulder $3.6M to clean site

Boulder and Xcel Energy have avoided trial related to a lawsuit the city filed this summer in U.S. District Court in Denver, as the two sides agreed to a settlement that will see the company pay Boulder $3.6 million for removal of dangerous chemicals in the 13th Street Plaza.

The City Council approved the settlement in the lawsuit, filed in July, late Tuesday night. It is unrelated to Boulder’s ongoing bid to separate from Xcel and form a municipal electric utility.

From 1902 to 1952, the property surrounding 13th Street and Canyon Boulevard was owned by the Federal Gas Co., which operated a coal gasification plant that produced fuel for heaters and lanterns.

The plant, which was owned by the Public Service Co. of Colorado, an affiliate of Xcel Energy, was torn down by the early 1960s, then used mainly for parking until Boulder started redeveloping it in 1995.

Potential hazards on the site weren’t publicly discussed for decades, but six monitoring wells installed in 2010 revealed the presence of benzene and naphthalene.

These chemicals are common byproducts of coal gasification.

Benzene can damage the immune system and cause cancer. It can also stop production of red blood cells, leading to anemia. Naphthalene also can lead to anemia and damage to the liver, and can cause neurological damage in infants.

According to city staff, total current and future costs related to the necessary cleanup at the 13th Street Plaza — best known today for the Dushanbe Teahouse — total about $5 million.

Though $3.6 million is shy of that total, litigation costs could have been as high as $1 million had Boulder gone to trial, City Attorney Tom Carr said.

“My estimate is that we would not see a significant increase in the net recovery” if the city went to trial and won, Carr told the council.

It seemed council members were convinced, as Carr’s case was followed by no debate and a swift, unanimous vote.

Xcel Energy offered a statement Tuesday night on the settlement.