Aurora developer asks federal court to cover WWII bomb cleanup costs
Southshore Recovery seeks reimbursement for $700,000 spent removing unexploded ordnance from a former military range in Arapahoe County.
By Lauren Bello ·
A New York real estate firm has taken the U.S. Department of Defense to court over the cost of clearing old military explosives from a Colorado parcel. The lawsuit seeks to recover more than $700,000 spent on environmental remediation work.
Southshore Recovery Acquisition, LLC filed the complaint in federal court on Oct. 26. The company argues that the Department of Defense is responsible for covering the cleanup of unexploded bombs and unused munitions on a 105-acre plot in southeast Aurora. The land sits within the Southshore community in Arapahoe County.
The site was once part of the Lowry Bombing and Gunnery Range, an active military area from 1937 to approximately 1963. The U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Air National Guard used the range for training during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The lawsuit notes that 84 bombing missions were conducted on the land between July and December 1952. The property contained seven bombing targets, a rocket range, nine gunnery targets, a jeep range, and three training camps.
Southshore states that the land it purchased in 2009 was not designated as an area of concern for live munitions in the Army Corps of Engineers' management plan. The company transferred the property in 2011. Although the land was undeveloped, the firm claims it later discovered a significant threat of unexploded ordnance. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the City of Aurora required risk reduction measures before construction could begin.
Remediation work took place over several months in 2020. A cleanup crew identified 5,739 targets and 274 items considered safe. These items included 20mm practice rounds, a rocket warhead, a fuze, and more than 424 pounds of .50 caliber ammunition. No armed explosives were found, but the lawsuit argues that it is impossible to distinguish between live and inert ordnance while buried in the ground. Classification only occurs after removal and examination.
Southshore sold the cleaned land to Richmond American Homes on Aug. 26, 2020, after receiving approval from state health officials. The developer claims it sent the cleanup report to the Army Corps before beginning the work but has not been reimbursed. The complaint does not specify if the company requested federal intervention before paying for the removal itself.
The Department of Defense declined to comment on the case, citing that the lawsuit had just been filed. Southshore Recovery did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The dispute adds to a pattern of military remnants found in the Denver metropolitan area.
William F. Hayden Park in Lakewood also contains potential munitions from its history as a National Guard rifle range. The Colorado National Guard leased part of Green Mountain in the 1940s to fire French 75 field guns. While no live shells have been found recently, shrapnel was discovered in the area as recently as 2024. Jefferson County issued a social media alert to residents in May regarding potential artillery shells in the vicinity.
