Recorded Environmental Covenants in Clear Creek County's Superfund Site

A specific, recorded restriction -- not just being inside the Superfund boundary

Falling within the roughly 400-square-mile Central City/Clear Creek Superfund site boundary (which the hub covers) does not by itself mean a parcel's deed carries any restriction. The actual restriction mechanism is narrower and more specific: recorded environmental covenants, used where mine-waste piles, engineered wetlands, or water-treatment infrastructure are part of the site's remedy and need to stay in place and undisturbed. Statewide, Colorado's Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division (HMWMD) tracks 237 recorded environmental covenants or restrictive notices across roughly 173 different sites -- and the Central City/Clear Creek site alone accounts for at least 31 of those covenants, a meaningful concentration reflecting the site's scale and the number of distinct remedy locations across Clear Creek and Gilpin counties.

For a buyer, this means the right question isn't "is this parcel in the Superfund site" (a large share of the county is) but "does this specific parcel have a recorded environmental covenant on it" -- a title search and a direct records check with HMWMD and the county are both worth doing, since a covenant limits what an owner can do on the affected part of the property (commonly restricting excavation, disturbance of a capped waste pile, or interference with a treatment system) independent of anything the zoning code allows.

An annual self-certification duty attaches to the owner, not just the land

A property subject to one of these covenants isn't a one-time disclosure item -- HMWMD requires the owner of a covenant-subject site to submit an annual self-certification of compliance, confirming the institutional control (whatever it specifically requires, such as not disturbing a capped area or maintaining site conditions) is still being met. The state supplements those self-certifications with periodic inspections of its own, meaning noncompliance can surface independently of what an owner reports.

If you're buying a covenant-subject parcel, ask directly for the specific covenant document (not just a general Superfund disclosure), confirm what physical restriction it actually imposes on the property, and ask whether the current or prior owner's self-certifications have been filed on schedule -- a lapsed self-certification history is worth understanding before you take on what is, in effect, an ongoing regulatory relationship that comes with the deed.

What to verify before buying land inside the Superfund boundary

• Whether the specific parcel (not just the general area) has a recorded environmental covenant -- check with HMWMD directly and via a title search, not just the EPA's general site-boundary map.
• What the covenant actually restricts on the property (excavation limits, treatment-system access, land-use restrictions) if one exists.
• The property's self-certification compliance history, if it's covenant-subject, and whether any inspection has flagged an issue.
• For a parcel without a recorded covenant but with visible old mine workings, whether the county or EPA has any record of the specific feature, since a covenant can be added later if a hazard is newly identified.