Denver International Airport is planning an $11 million deep cleaning of its fabled tunnel system.
A proposed contract would have Belfor Environmental do six months' worth of cleaning across the 3.5 million square feet tunnel network beneath the airport. While the tunnels get routinely cleaned, an airport spokesperson said this is the first time they have been deep-cleaned.
“This contract is different because it provides a one-time, top-to-bottom environmental cleaning of areas that are difficult to reach with routine housekeeping, including overhead utilities, structural surfaces at height, and low-use service corridors,” the airport said in a statement.
The contract — which needs to be approved by Denver City Council — said Belfor will use the same methods it would use to clean up contaminants like lead dust. (Tests for lead in the airport tunnels have detected a level of lead that isn't toxic to humans.)
The DIA tunnels stretch across the airport’s expansive campus. The tunnels connect terminals to baggage claim, in addition to hiding machinery.
The tunnels are also the subject of popular conspiracy theories. People have claimed that the tunnels connect to the NORAD facility at Cheyenne Mountain or even that they’re home to an underground city of human-lizard hybrids.
DIA has played up the conspiracy theories in marketing campaigns. But the official story is that tunnels are only home to those dust bunnies — soon to be swept away.
