HISTORY

Long after the FBI's historic 1989 raid on the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant, the agent who helped lead that investigation was still asking questions about what happened there—and whether the land surrounding the former plant should be opened to the public. In its May 2016 feature “Rogue Agent,” 5280 magazine profiled former FBI special agent Jon Lipsky and examined his continuing involvement with Rocky Flats nearly three decades after the raid. , The Investigation That C

Property owners near Rocky Flats spent 27 years pursuing claims over plutonium contamination. Their case ended in a $375 million settlement. Dow and Rockwell were the defendants—but federal indemnification meant they did not ultimately bear its financial cost. The federal government did.

Rocky Flats is a place many Coloradans drive past without knowing what once stood there—or why its history continues to matter. Half-Life of Memory is a documentary by Colorado artist and filmmaker Jeff Gipe that examines the history and legacy of the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant through archival material and interviews with people whose lives intersect with its story. Gipe himself grew up near Rocky Flats, where his father worked. Telling the story through the people wh