Part of a historic Colorado farm now grows orange, pink, and red flowers where vegetables used to be planted. The blooms have given Venetucci Farms a new use, but they also underscore how PFAS contamination changed the land and what it once meant to the community.
What happened?
In Fountain, Colorado, 15 acres at Venetucci Farms are leased to Gather Mountain Blooms, and about two of those acres are now filled with flowers. According to Rocky Mountain PBS, co-owner Nikki McComsey and her all-woman team took that direction after PFAS contamination tied to firefighting foam from Peterson Air Force Base forced the farm away from edible crops.
Venetucci Farms had long been a community fixture. After the Pikes Peak Real Estate Foundation bought the property in 2004 from Nick Venetucci, it kept local traditions alive, including giving away pumpkins to children each fall.
That changed in 2016, when the foundation learned the contamination had spread across the farm and into Fountain's drinking water. Repeated testing found PFAS in crops, and the farm was ordered to stop growing edible food.
"People found out their drinking water was contaminated. That's a really bad day," said Samuel Clark, executive director of the Pikes Peak Real Estate Foundation.
Why does it matter?
PFAS are known as forever chemicals because they don't easily break down in the environment or the human body.
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At Venetucci Farms, the contamination stopped vegetable production and disrupted a community space.
Even after contamination is identified, the land can remain limited in what it can safely produce.
What's being done?
For years, the foundation searched for a path forward, commissioning studies and even bringing in students to help brainstorm ideas. A breakthrough came in 2020, when McComsey and her sisters proposed using part of the property for a flower-growing operation.
That idea became Gather Mountain Blooms, a business focused on cut flowers and u-pick bouquets. McComsey and her sister, Abby Remacle, also host a weekly summer "Music and Blooms" event that invites neighbors to enjoy the landscape while supporting local musicians.
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Still, major limitations remain. McComsey said vegetables, chickens, and other animals aren't realistic options for the land, and testing even found PFAS in chicken eggs. Flowers, however, have offered a way to keep the farm active without producing contaminated food.
The U.S. Air Force has also funded infrastructure aimed at addressing the wider issue. CBS Colorado reported in 2023 that the Air Force spent $9 million on a water treatment plant meant to filter PFAS from the water supply.
Farm contamination like this isn't limited to Colorado. In Maine, PFAS-laced sludge has forced farmers to shut down operations and left families worried about their long-term health.
"There are a lot of moments of hopelessness because, you know, the news on PFAS never gets better," Clark said.
Even so, McComsey said the flower operation has provided a way to move forward. "To be able to really focus in on cut flowers allows us to really refine who we are and become experts at what we do."
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