{"id":128413,"date":"2026-04-21T15:13:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T21:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/la-plata-county-jail-needs-to-expand-but-ground-contamination-is-a-hurdle\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T15:13:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T21:13:08","slug":"la-plata-county-jail-needs-to-expand-but-ground-contamination-is-a-hurdle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/la-plata-county-jail-needs-to-expand-but-ground-contamination-is-a-hurdle\/","title":{"rendered":"La Plata County Jail needs to expand, but ground contamination is a hurdle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Chemical
Chemical contamination dating back to the 1970s beneath the La Plata County Jail limits how officials can repair or expand the facility. (Durango Herald file)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

As La Plata County grows, so does pressure on its jail.<\/p>\n

A growing community means a larger inmate population, and the county jail will likely need to expand to keep pace with projected growth.<\/p>\n

Any expansion, however, would likely require demolition of the older portion of the facility, said County Attorney Sheryl Rodgers. But environmental contamination beneath the older structure complicates the county\u2019s expansion hopes.<\/p>\n

Lingering chemical contamination left by a former rifle scope manufacturing plant is one of the primary hurdles the county faces as it looks toward larger, updated jail facilities.<\/p>\n

Brown Group Retail was the original owner of the rifle parts manufacturing company, and while another operator of the plant eventually took over, the Brown Group retained ownership of the structure that now houses the older section of the La Plata County Jail. In the late 1970s, it operated as a rifle lens manufacturing plant, where large quantities of industrial solvents were used and disposed of in accordance with regulations at the time.<\/p>\n

The county purchased the building in 1982 but did not learn until decades later that those chemicals had contaminated the soil and groundwater beneath the site, according to court documents.<\/p>\n

Testing revealed elevated levels of toxic chemicals in groundwater and soil gas beneath the facility, with the highest concentrations under the older portion of the jail. The contamination persists today, with a plume remaining underground, though officials say it appears relatively stable.<\/p>\n

The county filed a lawsuit against the former owner in 2008, leading to an unusual legal outcome that continues to shape how the site is managed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have kind of a unique situation where the judge decided he would determine what the remedy is,\u201d Rodgers said. \u201cHe fashioned a remedy and said that Brown Group was responsible for 75% and the county was responsible for 25%.\u201d<\/p>\n

The judge also ordered a specific cleanup method, including the use of injection wells to treat groundwater contamination.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, that hasn\u2019t been very effective,\u201d Rodgers said.<\/p>\n

Because the remedy was court-ordered, the county has limited flexibility to pursue alternatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo do anything different, we would need to go back to federal court, reopen the case and explore options,\u201d Rodgers said, adding the process would likely be difficult and contentious. \u201cBrown Group has fought their share of liability aggressively throughout the entire case.\u201d<\/p>\n

That legal framework complicates efforts to address persisting problems at the site, including deteriorating infrastructure inside the jail.<\/p>\n

The jail has experienced overcrowding at times during the past few years, necessitating overflow cells in the older part of the jail to be used. But the contamination has reduced the number of overflow cells available.<\/p>\n

The county cannot cut into floors to access underground systems without risking exposure to hazardous vapors, said La Plata County Sheriff Sean Smith.<\/p>\n

And as plumbing fails, cells are taken offline.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have the ability to replace or repair the plumbing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

That loss of capacity comes at a time when space is already tight.<\/p>\n

An addition built outside the contaminated footprint houses most inmates, but the older section is still needed to meet classification requirements.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe jail is technically considered full \u2026 at about 80 to 85% of the total beds available,\u201d Smith said. \u201cYou can\u2019t put a homicide offender with a DUI offender.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beds are not interchangeable, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we have men and women that we have to get classified and have to be separated, we run out of space in the new jail,\u201d Smith said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we use the old jail.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some portions of the older facility have already been taken offline.<\/p>\n

One unit, known as \u201cdry cells,\u201d lacked plumbing in cells and was deemed uninhabitable based on constitutional standards. Other sections have been lost as infrastructure has deteriorated.<\/p>\n

County officials say the constraints underscore a broader reality: The facility is nearing the end of its usable life.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, officials are exploring more aggressive options that include demolishing the older structure to directly address the contamination.<\/p>\n

Currently, remediation efforts are limited to treating contamination around the structure. Removing the building could allow more direct treatment of polluted soil and groundwater, Rodgers said.<\/p>\n

That approach could also align with future expansion plans.<\/p>\n

The county could potentially pave over the treated area for parking and expand the newer jail into existing parking areas if additional space is needed.<\/p>\n

But such a project would be complex and costly, requiring cooperation from Brown Group and, if tied to changes in the cleanup plan, approval from a federal court.<\/p>\n

And funding remains a major hurdle.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo date, the county has lacked the funds to do it,\u201d Rodgers said, noting officials have explored grants for contaminated \u201cbrownfield\u201d sites.<\/p>\n

While the contamination is not affecting nearby residents \u2013 surrounding properties rely on city water, and controls are in place to prevent exposure \u2013 Rodgers said it still poses environmental concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would like to be more aggressive about the treatment,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

jbowman@durangoherald.com<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

industrial site left chemicals in soil and groundwater<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":64781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[1820,1030,174,738,222,28,475,1024,1194,1446],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-128413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-dh-trueanthem","tag-environment","tag-environmental-cleanup","tag-environmental-issue","tag-environmental-pollution","tag-headlines","tag-la-plata-county-colorado","tag-la-plata-county-jail","tag-la-plata-county-sheriffs-office","tag-population"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128413"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=128413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}