Study finds multiple pollution sources in Denver's Elyria-Swansea, Commerce City

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — A new study published by the University of Colorado Boulder determined that pollutants in Denver's Elyria-Swansea neighborhood and Commerce City come from multiple sources.

The research project began in the summer of 2022. Members of the research team acquired a piece of equipment that measures trace gases in the atmosphere.

The instrument was driven through the Elyria-Swansea neighborhood and Commerce City multiple times and recorded volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

"We had a couple main goals going into the study," said Madison Rutherford, a PhD candidate at CU Boulder and research team member. "The first was to better understand how we can process data collected on a mobile laboratory. Then our second goal — and the reason why we chose Commerce City — is it's known that this is a very polluted area with lots of different air quality concerns. We were really hoping to add to the conversation on that and understand how VOCs are being emitted from different sources, and if we can pick out which VOCs are coming from where."

Ultimately, that's exactly what the research team was able to accomplish through the study.

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Rutherford told Denver7 they found, as expected, "high concentrations of VOCs, such as benzene, coming from the [Suncor Energy] oil refinery." The team also found a surprising source of pollutants.

"We saw high concentrations of certain VOCs around a woodshop to the north," Rutherford said.

Near the woodshop, the equipment recorded concentrations of toluene, a clear, colorless liquid that is often used in a mixture with other solvents and chemicals, such as paint pigments, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration .

Guadalupe Solis, director of environmental justice programs with Cultivando, told Denver7 she was glad the study was conducted and not too surprised by its findings.

"I think this study is very validating and supportive of the findings that we described in our study — higher rates of VOCs, VOCs having health impacts in the community and VOCs coming from Suncor and other contaminators or other polluters," she said.

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Solis said studies like the one conducted by CU Boulder shine a light on air quality issues in the neighborhood.

"It helps bring light to the fact that it's not just one polluter that's, you know, poisoning our community and making our community sick, but it's a multitude of them. That doesn't take away from the fact that Suncor is the biggest polluter, right?" Solis said.

Denver7 reached out to Suncor for a comment on the study but did not hear back as of the publication of this article.

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