Denver secures $500,000 HUD grant for Brighton Boulevard landfill cleanup design
The grant funds design and environmental investigations at a methane-restricted former landfill, but construction funding and a cleanup date have not been set.
Denver has secured a $500,000 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant for remediation design and environmental investigations at a former landfill and Denver Public Schools bus-depot site on Brighton Boulevard. Construction funding is not yet available.
The award agreement has been fully executed by HUD and Denver, the grant agreement says. The city says the grant-funded design work is complete. The work covers investigations, remediation drawings and specifications, technical memorandums, management plans, a construction cost estimate, a project schedule and an application to the Colorado Voluntary Cleanup Program. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment approved that application Jan. 26, 2026.
The roughly 7-acre property is at 4800 and 4850 Brighton Blvd. The city’s project request estimates that cleanup would remove about 125,000 cubic yards of landfill and contaminated soil, along with pavement and foundations. The plans also call for shoring along the property boundary, disposal of the waste at the Denver Arapahoe Disposal Site and replacement with clean engineered fill.
That physical cleanup remains unfunded. Denver has not identified money or a date for construction, redevelopment or methane mitigation.
The site is currently restricted to event surface parking because landfill gas contains methane at explosive levels. A passive gas-venting system was installed in 2018, but an environmental covenant prevents broader use until remediation is complete. If cleanup is funded and completed, city plans call for removing perimeter fencing, allowing pedestrians to cross the property and improving connections between Elyria-Swansea, the post office and the 49th & Brighton National Western Center commuter rail station. No date has been set for those changes.
The federal grant agreement and Denver’s local approval process are at different stages. The current Denver Legistar matter lists Council Bill 26-1291 as under “Approval Review.” The South Platte River Committee approved it by consent Sept. 9, but the record does not show final City Council passage, mayoral approval, publication or an effective date as of Sept. 17.