The Environmental Protection Agency wants to formally remove most of the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons site and buffer lands surrounding it from the Superfund list of the nation's most-polluted sites.

The agency on Tuesday announced its proposal to remove 25,413 acres in Jefferson and Boulder counties from the National Priorities List. A central portion of the site covering 1,308 acres, once home to plutonium-processing buildings, would remain a Superfund site and off-limits to the public.

The EPA is seeking public comment on the proposal until April 12.

Department of Energy contractors completed a 10-year, $7 billion teardown and closure of the site in October of 2005. Eventually, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will oversee the site as a wildlife refuge.