{"id":2039,"date":"2009-01-03T17:46:14","date_gmt":"2009-01-04T01:46:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/?p=2039"},"modified":"2022-08-05T15:27:58","modified_gmt":"2022-08-05T22:27:58","slug":"no-superfund-listing-for-field-lab-site","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/2009\/01\/03\/no-superfund-listing-for-field-lab-site\/","title":{"rendered":"No Superfund listing for field lab site"},"content":{"rendered":"

The state holds out for its own stricter cleanup standards for the former rocket engine and nuclear testing facility near Chatsworth and Simi Valley. Activists are\u00a0pleased.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Source of this article<\/a> – Los Angeles Times, January 13, 2009.<\/p>\n

\"\"By <\/span>Catherine Saillant<\/p>\n

California\u2019s top environmental cop Monday rejected an offer to list the contaminated Rocketdyne Santa Susana Field Lab near Simi Valley as a federal Superfund cleanup site, saying the state can do the job quicker and more thoroughly.<\/p>\n

Linda Adams, secretary for environmental protection, said she was concerned that a federal listing would allow the three parties responsible for removing toxic substances from the 2,850-acre former rocket engine and nuclear testing facility to skirt stricter cleanup standards set forth in recently passed state\u00a0legislation.<\/p>\n

Enacted last year, Senate Bill 990 requires lab owner Boeing<\/a>, the U.S.<\/span> Department of Energy and NASA<\/span> to clean the hilltop property to a level suitable for residential and agricultural use.<\/p>\n

Residents near the hilltop facility had long pushed for such a standard, fearing that anything less would subject them to downstream health risks associated with soil contaminated by years of rocket and nuclear\u00a0testing.<\/p>\n

A Superfund-administered cleanup would allow Boeing and its partners to meet a lower federal standard, Adams told reporters in a conference\u00a0call.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>We feel under the state\u2019s watch we can accomplish a cleanup that goes further,\u201d Adams said.<\/p>\n

Adams\u2019 announcement was hailed by citizen watchdogs, who praised the secretary for refusing to back off of tougher requirements despite intense\u00a0lobbying.<\/p>\n

\"\"

CONTAMINATED: The Department of Energy is in the midst of a survey to analyze levels of contamination at the 2,850-acre former field lab site, shown in 2000.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201c<\/span>We are grateful to Secretary Adams and the governor for taking this stance,\u201d said Marie Mason, a member of the Rocketdyne Cleanup Coalition and a 35-year resident of the Santa Susana Knolls, just below the defunct testing facility. \u201cThey have been lobbying heavily in Washington to get on the Superfund list. When polluters are asking to be put on the Superfund list, you have to ask, \u2018What\u2019s wrong with that picture?\u2019\u00a0\u201d<\/p>\n

Representatives for Boeing and the U.S.<\/span> Department of Energy and NASA<\/span> could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n

In an August 2007 consent decree, state regulators gave the operators 10 years to clean up contaminated soil and install a water-cleansing mechanism. The Department of Energy is in the midst of a survey to analyze levels of chemical and radioactive contamination, Adams\u00a0said.<\/p>\n

That work will continue with Monday\u2019s announcement, she said. Operators must meet a series of cleanup deadlines or face fines of up to $15,000 a\u00a0day.<\/p>\n

The field lab was the site of nuclear testing under previous owner Rockwell International. Federal agencies, including the Department of Energy, conducted nuclear research at the lab over four decades, ceasing operations in the late\u00a01980s.<\/p>\n

In 1959, a partial meltdown of a nuclear reactor took place but was kept secret for two decades. Boeing acquired the problem-riddled field lab property when it absorbed Rockwell\u2019s aerospace and defense businesses in\u00a02006.<\/p>\n

Boeing has primary responsibility for restoring the property in the Santa Susana Mountains between Simi Valley and Chatsworth. In 2007, it announced that it would donate the land for open space and parkland once it has been cleaned\u00a0up.<\/p>\n

Adams said the state\u2019s refusal to list the property as a Superfund site should not slow cleanup efforts that are underway. The cost of scrubbing soil and water \u2013 expected to mount into the millions \u2013 will be paid by for Boeing and the other operators, the secretary\u00a0said.<\/p>\n

Activist Dan Hirsch said the community would keep a close eye on the progress. His Committee to Bridge the Gap first raised the alarm about the partial meltdown and potential contamination at the former Rocketdyne site, he\u00a0said.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>There are carcinogens in the soil, and they move off that mountain every time the wind blows or the rains come,\u201d Hirsch said. \u201cIt\u2019s a health\u00a0issue.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The state holds out for its own stricter cleanup standards for the former rocket engine and nuclear testing facility near Chatsworth and Simi Valley. Activists are\u00a0pleased. Source of this article – Los Angeles Times, January 13, 2009. By Catherine Saillant California\u2019s top environmental cop Monday rejected an offer to list […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,40,12,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","category-history","category-los-angeles","category-pollution"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2039"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3785,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039\/revisions\/3785"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}