One of the most significant contamination events in Rocky Flats history did not begin with a fire or explosion. It began with drums of plutonium-contaminated waste oil stored outdoors. A 1996 study published in Health Physics reconstructed the release of plutonium from an area of the Rocky Flats Plant known as the 903 Pad. The research was conducted as part of a Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment effort to reconstruct historical contaminant releases and esti

In April 2018, CBS Colorado reported that several Colorado school districts had prohibited school-sponsored field trips to the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, the site surrounding the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant. The Denver Public Schools Board brought forward a resolution prohibiting its nearly 100,000 students from participating in field trips to the refuge. Board members cited concerns that visiting the former nuclear weapons site posed too great a risk

On March 17, the Lyons Board of Trustees voted 6–1 to oppose construction of the Greenway through the refuge and its connection to regional trails. Lyons joined Broomfield, Superior and Westminster, which had previously withdrawn their support for the project.

A 2024 joint submission to the Colorado State Board of Health calls for renewed scrutiny of Rocky Flats, including independent review, air monitoring, additional health research and greater public disclosure.

Colorado has monitored cancer incidence around Rocky Flats for decades, but an exchange with the state's cancer registry raises an important methodological question: Can data based largely on where people live when diagnosed adequately evaluate a community defined by where people may have lived and been exposed decades earlier?