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'Killing'
probes Flats history |
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 Len Ackland |
| Radioactive
metal plutonium in a building at the plant ignited, triggering a
large fire. Gray and black smoke rolled from the building. Drivers
on the Denver-Boulder Turnpike 10 miles away could see the dense
plume. Only then did the media begin banging on the plant's doors. After years of public scrutiny, plutonium production at Rocky Flats was ceased in 1989. Today the plant's mission is cleanup and closure. Ackland, director of the School's Center for Environmental Journalism, chronicles the history of the plant and its role in the nuclear arms race in "Making a Real Killing: Rocky Flats and the Nuclear West," published by the University of New Mexico Press. It is the first time anyone has documented the history of the plant where scientists began processing plutonium and manufacturing nuclear bombs in 1952. In an interview, Ackland said he started investigating the story of Rocky Flats in 1989, the year the Berlin Wall fell and the U.S.-Soviet arms race ground to a halt. "Rocky Flats was a very key facility and a good microcosm to understand the Cold War and the nuclear arms race," said Ackland, who grew up in Aurora and graduated from CU in 1966 with a degree in history. His research of Rocky Flats found that, initially, the plant was a subject of pride for Coloradans. They welcomed the booming commercial and residential growth that accompanied it. Although residents profited from thousands of jobs and contracts Rocky Flats brought, many eventually came to realize that they also faced long-term environmental and health risks. That led to citizen protests in the late 1970s of Rocky Flats as a global hazard and a local threat. "The story of Rocky Flats epitomizes mistakes made in the 20th century that rested on the myopic notion that a nation can preserve its security by building weapons of mass destruction that place incalculable numbers of men, women and children at risk," Ackland said. "But the story also shows how citizens can become involved and help change bad government policy," he said. Ackland's story tells of how the government and private corporations were involved in questionable and even dangerous production practices. It also reflects on the loyalty of plant managers and workers and the dedication of citizens who challenged the plant's existence. A member of the faculty since 1991, Ackland is a former Chicago Tribune reporter and the former editor of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. He began researching and documenting the history of the nuclear arms race in 1990 with a research and writing grant funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. He teaches graduate level courses in Investigative Reporting and Precision Journalism, a computer-assisted research and reporting class. Ackland also is the founding director of the School's Center for Environmental Journalism, the first of its kind in the nation. He runs the Ted Scripps Fellowships in Environmental Journalism at the School under a three-year, $545,000 grant from the Scripps Howard Foundation. |
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