Santa Susana Field Laboratory
Encyclopedia
The Santa Susana Field Laboratory is a complex of industrial research and development facilities located on a 2,668 acre portion of the Southern California
Simi Hills
in Simi Valley
, California
, used mainly for the testing and development of Liquid-propellant rocket engines for the United States space program
from 1949 to 2006, nuclear reactors from 1953 to 1980 and the operation of a U.S. Government-sponsored liquid metals research center from 1966 to 1998. The site is located approximately 7 miles (11.3 km) northwest from the community of Canoga Park and approximately 30 miles (48.3 km) northwest of Downtown Los Angeles
. Sage Ranch Park is adjacent on part of the northern boundary and the community of Bell Canyon
along the entire southern boundary.
Since 1947 the Santa Susana Field Laboratory location has been used by a number of companies and agencies. The first was Rocketdyne
, originally a division of North American Aviation
-NAA, which developed a variety of pioneering, successful and reliable liquid rocket engines. Some were those used in the Navaho
cruise missile, the Redstone rocket, the Thor and Jupiter ballistic missiles, early versions of the Delta
and Atlas
rockets, the Saturn rocket family
and the Space Shuttle Main Engine
. The Atomics International
division of North American Aviation utilized a separate and dedicated portion of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory to build and operate the first commercial nuclear power plant in the United States and for the testing and development of compact nuclear reactors including the first and only known nuclear reactor launched into Low Earth Orbit by the United States, the SNAP-10A
. Atomics International also operated the Energy Technology Engineering Center
for the U.S. Department of Energy at the site. The Santa Susana Field Laboratory includes sites identified as historic by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
and by the American Nuclear Society
. In 1996, The Boeing Company became the primary owner and operator of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory and later closed the site.
Three California state agencies and three federal agencies have been overseeing a detailed investigation of environmental impacts from historical site operations since at least 1990. Concerns about the environmental impact of past disposal practices have inspired at least two lawsuits seeking payment from Boeing and several interest groups are actively involved with steering the ongoing environmental investigation.
The Santa Susana Field Laboratory is the focus of diverse interests. The National Register of Historic Places
listed Burro Flats Painted Cave
is located within the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, on a portion of the site owned by the U.S. government. The drawings within the cave have been termed "the best preserved Indian pictograph in Southern California." Several tributary
streams to the Los Angeles River
have headwater watersheds
on the SSFL property, including Bell Creek
(90% of SSFL drainage), Dayton Creek, Woolsey Canyon, and Runkle Creek.
Several unidentified flying object
sightings have been associated with the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, one as recent as April 2007.
SSFL was slated as a United States
government
facility dedicated to the development and testing of nuclear reactors, powerful rockets such as the Delta II, and the systems that powered the Apollo missions. The location of SSFL was chosen in 1947 for its remoteness in order to conduct work that was considered too dangerous to be performed in more densely populated areas. In subsequent years however, the Southern California
population grew, along with housing developments surrounding "The Hill." Today, more than 150,000 people live within 5 miles (8 km) of the facility, and at least half a million people live within 10 miles (16 km).
The site is divided into four production and two buffer areas, (Area I, II, III, and IV, and the northern and southern buffer zones). Areas I through III were used for rocket testing, missile testing, and munitions development. Area IV was used primarily for nuclear reactor experimentation and development. Laser research for the Strategic Defense Initiative
(popularly known as "Star Wars"), was also conducted in Area IV.
(NAA) began its development of liquid propellant rocket engines after the end of WWII
. The Rocketdyne
division of NAA, which came into being under its own name in the mid-1950s, designed and tested several rocket engines at the facility. They included engines for the Army's Redstone (an advanced short-range copy of the German V-2), and the Jupiter intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) as well as the Air Force's counterpart IRBM, the Thor. Also included were engines for the Atlas Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), as well as the twin combustion chamber alcohol/liquid oxygen booster engine for the NAVAHO, a large, intercontinental cruise missile that never became operational. Later, Rocketdyne designed and tested the huge F-1 engine that was eventually used as one of a cluster of engines powering the Apollo booster, as well as the J-2 liquid oxygen/hydrogen upper stage engine also used on the Project Apollo
spacecraft.
The Atomics International
Division of North American Aviation utilized SSFL Area IV as the site of United States first commercial nuclear power plant and the testing and development of the SNAP-10A
, the first nuclear reactor launched into outer space by the United States. Atomics International also operated the Energy Technology Engineering Center for the U.S. government. As overall interest in nuclear power declined, Atomics International transitioned to non-nuclear energy-related projects, such as coal gasification, and gradually ceased designing and testing nuclear reactors. Atomics International was eventually merged with the Rocketdyne division in 1978.
-SRE was an experimental nuclear reactor which operated from 1957 to 1964 and was the first commercial power plant in the world to experience a core meltdown. There was a decades-long cover-up by the US Department of Energy. The operation predated environmental regulation, so early disposal techniques are not recorded in detail. Thousands of pounds of sodium coolant from the time of the meltdown are not yet accounted for.
The reactor and support systems were removed in 1981 and the building torn down in 1999.
-ETEC, was a government-owned, contractor-operated complex of industrial facilities located within Area IV of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory. The ETEC specialized in non-nuclear testing of components which were designed to transfer heat from a nuclear reactor using liquid metals instead of water or gas. The center operated from 1966 to 1998. The ETEC site has been closed and is now undergoing building removal and environmental remediation by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Throughout the years, approximately ten low-power nuclear reactor
s operated at SSFL, in addition to several "critical facilities": a sodium
burn pit in which sodium-coated objects were burned in an open pit; a plutonium
fuel
fabrication facility; a uranium carbide
fuel fabrication facility; and the purportedly largest "Hot Lab" facility in the United States at the time. (A Hot Lab is a facility used for remotely cutting up irradiated nuclear fuel
.) Irradiated nuclear fuel from other Atomic Energy Commission
(AEC) and Department of Energy
(DOE) facilities from around the country were shipped to SSFL to be decladded and examined.
The Hot Lab suffered a number of fires involving radioactive
materials. For example, in 1957, a fire in the Hot Cell
"got out of control and ... massive contamination" resulted. (see: NAA-SR-1941, Sodium Graphite
Reactor, Quarterly Progress Report, January–March 1957). In July, 1959, the site suffered a partial nuclear meltdown that has been named "the worst in U.S. history", releasing an undisclosed amount of radiation, but thought to be much more than the Three Mile Island disaster in 1979. Another radioactive fire occurred in 1971, involving combustible primary reactor coolant
(NaK
) contaminated with mixed fission
products.
At least four of the ten nuclear reactors suffered accidents. The AE6 reactor experienced a release of fission gases
in March 1959, the SRE experienced a power excursion
and partial meltdown
in July 1959; the SNAP8ER in 1964 experienced damage to 80% of its fuel; and the SNAP8DR in 1969 experienced similar damage to one-third of its fuel.
The reactors located on the grounds of SSFL were considered experimental, and therefore had no containment structures
. Reactors and highly radioactive components were housed without the large concrete domes that surround modern power reactors
.
The sodium
burn pit, an open-air pit for cleaning sodium-contaminated components, was also contaminated when radioactively- and chemically-contaminated items were burned in it, in contravention of safety requirements. In an article in the Ventura County Star, James Palmer, a former SSFL worker was interviewed. The article notes that "of the 27 men on Palmer's crew, 22 died of cancers." On some nights Palmer returned home from work and kissed "his wife [hello], only to burn her lips with the chemicals he had breathed at work." The report also noted that "During their breaks, Palmer's crew would fish in one of three ponds ... The men would use a solution that was 90 percent hydrogen peroxide
to neutralize the contamination. Sometimes, the water was so polluted it bubbled. The fish died off." Palmer's interview ended on a somber note: "They had seven wells up there, water well
s, and every damn one of them was contaminated," Palmer said, "It was a horror story."
Other spills and releases occurred over the decades of operation as well. In 1989, a DOE
investigation found widespread chemical and radioactive contamination on the property. Widely publicized in the local press, the revelations led to substantial concern among community members and elected officials, resulting in a challenge to and subsequent shutdown of continued nuclear activity at the site, and the filing of lawsuits. Cleanup commenced, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) was brought in at the request of local legislators to provide oversight.
On December 11, 2002, a top Department of Energy
(DOE) official, Mike Lopez, described typical clean-up procedures executed by Field Lab employees in the past. Workers would dispose of barrels filled with highly toxic waste
by shooting the barrels with rifles so that they would explode and release their contents into the air. It is unclear when this process ended, but for certain did end prior to the 1990s.
On July 26, 1994, two scientists, Otto K. Heiney, 52, of Chatsworth and Larry A. Pugh, 51, of Thousand Oaks, were killed when the chemicals they were illegally burning in open pits exploded. After a grand jury
investigation and FBI raid on the facility, three Rocketdyne
officials pleaded guilty in June 2004 to illegally storing explosive materials. The jury deadlocked
on the more serious charges related to illegal burning of hazardous waste.
At trial, a retired Rocketdyne mechanic testified as to what he witnessed at the time of the explosion:
"I assumed we were burning waste," Wells testified, comparing the process used on July 21 and 26, 1994, to that once used to legally dispose of leftover chemicals at the company's old burn pit. As Heiney poured the chemicals for what would have been the third burn of the day, the blast occurred, Wells said. "[The background noise] was so loud I didn't hear anything ... I felt the blast and I looked down and my shirt was coming apart."
When he realized what had occurred, Wells said, "I felt to see if I was all there ... I knew I was burned but I didn't know how bad."
s swept through northern Los Angeles County and parts of Ventura County. The fires consumed most of the dry brush throughout the Simi Hills
where SSFL is located. The facility received substantial fire damage. Since the fire, allegations have emerged that vast quantities of on-site contamination were released into the air. Most recently, Los Angeles County firefighters who were assigned to SSFL during the fire have been sent for medical testing to see if any harmful doses were ingested or inhaled while protecting the facility.
While community members and firefighters have expressed concern about the amount of exposure, Boeing
officials stand by their position that no contamination of the air resulted from the fire, and that any contamination that may have been consumed by the fire was negligible.
California Department of Toxic Substances Control
also claims that no significant contamination occurred as a result of the fire. Although the Field Lab is under current criticism for violating almost 50 discharge permits, state agencies have been silent on the issue. Recently, lawyers disclosed to the California State Water Resources Control Board
that over 80 exceedances of Boeing's discharge permits were found in the preceding year alone. In January 2006, the State Water Resources Control Board finally stepped in, and refused some requests by Boeing for even lighter standards.
Margaret-Ann Galasso, in a suit against Boeing criticized her attorney
s, who, as she claimed, accepted a $30 million dollar settlement with Boeing without her approval. The attorneys stand to collect $18 million, or 60% of the settlement amount after their costs and fees are subtracted. The plaintiff who disclosed the allegedly tainted deal is splitting the rest of the settlement with other plaintiffs and will only receive around $30,000, a far cry from the amount she will need for extensive future medical treatments for diseases that were linked to contamination from the SSFL facility.
In October 2006, the Santa Susana Field Laboratory Advisory Panel, made up of independent scientists and researchers from around the United States, concluded that contamination at the facility resulted in between 0 and 1,800 cancer
deaths (the average estimate was 300 deaths). The report also concluded that the SRE meltdown caused the release of more than 458 times the amount of radiation released by the Three Mile Island accident
.http://ssflpanel.org
Regarding cleanup, the site's current owner is Boeing
, with NASA and DOE liable for several parcels within that. On August 2, 2005, Pratt & Whitney
purchased Boeing's Rocketdyne
division, but declined to acquire SSFL as part of the sale.
(CERCLA) standards.
However, in March 2003, the DOE reversed its position and announced that SSFL would not be cleaned up to EPA standards. While the DOE simultaneously claimed compliance with the 1995 joint policy agreement, the new plan included a cleanup of only 1% of the contaminated soil, and the release of SSFL for unrestricted residential use in as little as ten years. The EPA responded to this announcement by claiming that the DOE was not subject to EPA regulation due to the fact that the DOE existed as a separate entity under the executive branch of the federal government, and refused take steps to force DOE adherence to the 1995 agreement.
In August 2003, the Senate Appropriations Committee issued a report on Energy and Water Appropriations, urging the DOE to meet its commitments in the 1995 agreement and clean up SSFL to the EPA's CERCLA standards. The DOE responded to the Senate, claiming it was in fact consistent with both the agreement and EPA's CERCLA standards. In December 2003, soon after DOE's announcement that it was consistent with the 1995 agreement, EPA determined that the cleanup was not consistent with its CERCLA standards, and that sufficient contamination would remain at levels that would be dangerously inappropriate for unrestricted residential, and that the only safe use under DOE's revised cleanup standards would be restricted day hikes with limitations on picnicking.
Critics point out that if the DOE-Boeing cleanup plan was followed through and the site was released for unrestricted residential use, the property would likely become a Superfund site subject to EPA standards. After the sale, the site would no longer be a DOE facility, and thus, the exemption from CERCLA standards would no longer be in effect. The end result being that the site would only be brought into compliance with CERCLA cleanup standards after Boeing has sold the property, relieving the company of any burden of cleanup costs. The costs would likely be passed on to taxpayers, and not those responsible for the actual contamination.
In early May 2007, a Federal Court in San Francisco issued a major ruling which concluded that DOE has not been cleaning up the site to proper standards, and that the site would have to be cleaned up to higher standards if DOE ever wanted to release the site to Boeing, which in turn, would most likely release the land for unrestricted residential development. Judge "Conti's ruling requires DOE to prepare a more stringent review of the lab, which is on the border of Los Angeles County. Conti wrote that the department's decision to prepare a less-stringent environmental document prior to cleanup is in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act and noted that the lab 'is located only miles away from one of the largest population centers in the world.'"
in violation of a July 1, 2004, permit that allowed release of wastewater and storm water runoff as long as it didn't contain high levels of pollutants.
, Boeing, and state Sen. Sheila Kuehl
, the property will be donated and preserved as a vital undeveloped open-space link in the Santa Susana Mountains
above Simi Valley
and the San Fernando Valley
. The agreement will permanently restrict the land for nonresidential, noncommercial use."
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
Simi Hills
Simi Hills
The Simi Hills are a low rocky mountain range of the Transverse Ranges, located in eastern Ventura County and western Los Angeles County, of southern California, United States.-Geography:...
in Simi Valley
Simi Valley
Simi Valley is a synclinal valley in Southern California in the United States. It is an enclosed or hidden valley surrounded by mountains and hills. It is connected to the San Fernando Valley to the east by the Santa Susana Pass & 118 freeway, and in the west the narrows of the Arroyo Simi and 118...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, used mainly for the testing and development of Liquid-propellant rocket engines for the United States space program
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
from 1949 to 2006, nuclear reactors from 1953 to 1980 and the operation of a U.S. Government-sponsored liquid metals research center from 1966 to 1998. The site is located approximately 7 miles (11.3 km) northwest from the community of Canoga Park and approximately 30 miles (48.3 km) northwest of Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...
. Sage Ranch Park is adjacent on part of the northern boundary and the community of Bell Canyon
Bell Canyon, California
Bell Canyon is a census-designated place in Ventura County, California. Bell Canyon is a residential unincorporated community located near West Hills and the western San Fernando Valley in the Simi Hills. Although only minutes from the Los Angeles city limits, Bell Canyon is a Horse Community. ...
along the entire southern boundary.
Introduction
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a United States company that designs and produces rocket engines that use liquid propellants. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, headquartered in Canoga Park, California, is a division of Pratt & Whitney, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation...
, originally a division of North American Aviation
North American Aviation
North American Aviation was a major US aerospace manufacturer, responsible for a number of historic aircraft, including the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F-86 Sabre jet fighter, the X-15 rocket plane, and the XB-70, as well as Apollo Command and Service...
-NAA, which developed a variety of pioneering, successful and reliable liquid rocket engines. Some were those used in the Navaho
SM-64 Navaho
The North American SM-64 Navaho was a supersonic intercontinental cruise missile project built by North American Aviation. The program ran from 1946 to 1958 when it was cancelled in favor of intercontinental ballistic missiles...
cruise missile, the Redstone rocket, the Thor and Jupiter ballistic missiles, early versions of the Delta
Delta II
Delta II was an American space launch system, originally designed and built by McDonnell Douglas. Delta II is part of the Delta rocket family and was in service from 1989 until November 1, 2011...
and Atlas
Atlas II
Atlas II was a member of the Atlas family of launch vehicles, which evolved from the successful Atlas missile program of the 1950s. Atlas II was the last Atlas to use a three engine, "stage-and-a-half" design: two of its three engines were jettisoned during ascent, but its fuel tanks and other...
rockets, the Saturn rocket family
Saturn (rocket family)
The Saturn family of American rocket boosters was developed by a team of mostly German rocket scientists led by Wernher von Braun to launch heavy payloads to Earth orbit and beyond. Originally proposed as a military satellite launcher, they were adopted as the launch vehicles for the Apollo moon...
and the Space Shuttle Main Engine
Space Shuttle main engine
The RS-25, otherwise known as the Space Shuttle Main Engine , is a reusable liquid-fuel rocket engine built by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne for the Space Shuttle, running on liquid hydrogen and oxygen. Each Space Shuttle was propelled by three SSMEs mated to one powerhead...
. The Atomics International
Atomics International
Atomics International was a division of the North American Aviation company which engaged principally in the early development of nuclear technology and nuclear reactors for both commercial and government applications...
division of North American Aviation utilized a separate and dedicated portion of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory to build and operate the first commercial nuclear power plant in the United States and for the testing and development of compact nuclear reactors including the first and only known nuclear reactor launched into Low Earth Orbit by the United States, the SNAP-10A
SNAP-10A
SNAP-10A was the first and so far only known launch of a U.S. nuclear reactor into space . The Systems Nuclear Auxiliary Power Program reactor was developed under the SNAPSHOT program overseen by the U.S...
. Atomics International also operated the Energy Technology Engineering Center
Energy Technology Engineering Center
The Energy Technology Engineering Center , was a government-owned, contractor-operated complex of industrial facilities located within the Santa Susana Field Laboratory , Ventura County, California. The ETEC specialized in non-nuclear testing of components which were designed to transfer heat...
for the U.S. Department of Energy at the site. The Santa Susana Field Laboratory includes sites identified as historic by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics is the professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA was founded in 1963 from the merger of two earlier societies: the American Rocket Society , founded in 1930 as the American Interplanetary Society , and the Institute...
and by the American Nuclear Society
American Nuclear Society
The American Nuclear Society is an international, not-for-profit 501 scientific and educational organization with a membership of approximately 11,000 scientists, engineers, educators, students, and other associate members. Approximately 900 members live outside the United States in 40 countries....
. In 1996, The Boeing Company became the primary owner and operator of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory and later closed the site.
Three California state agencies and three federal agencies have been overseeing a detailed investigation of environmental impacts from historical site operations since at least 1990. Concerns about the environmental impact of past disposal practices have inspired at least two lawsuits seeking payment from Boeing and several interest groups are actively involved with steering the ongoing environmental investigation.
The Santa Susana Field Laboratory is the focus of diverse interests. The National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
listed Burro Flats Painted Cave
Burro Flats Painted Cave
Burro Flats Painted Cave is in the Burro Flats area of the Simi Hills, located between the Simi Valley, and West Hills and Bell Canyon, in Ventura County of Southern California, United States. It is a Cave containing Chumash Native American pictographs...
is located within the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, on a portion of the site owned by the U.S. government. The drawings within the cave have been termed "the best preserved Indian pictograph in Southern California." Several tributary
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
streams to the Los Angeles River
Los Angeles River
The Los Angeles River is a river that starts in the San Fernando Valley, in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and flows through Los Angeles County, California, from Canoga Park in the western end of the San Fernando Valley, nearly southeast to its mouth in Long Beach...
have headwater watersheds
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
on the SSFL property, including Bell Creek
Bell Creek (Southern California)
Bell Creek is a tributary of the Los Angeles River, in the Simi Hills of Ventura County and the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County and City, in Southern California.-Route:...
(90% of SSFL drainage), Dayton Creek, Woolsey Canyon, and Runkle Creek.
Several unidentified flying object
Unidentified flying object
A term originally coined by the military, an unidentified flying object is an unusual apparent anomaly in the sky that is not readily identifiable to the observer as any known object...
sightings have been associated with the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, one as recent as April 2007.
History
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
facility dedicated to the development and testing of nuclear reactors, powerful rockets such as the Delta II, and the systems that powered the Apollo missions. The location of SSFL was chosen in 1947 for its remoteness in order to conduct work that was considered too dangerous to be performed in more densely populated areas. In subsequent years however, the Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
population grew, along with housing developments surrounding "The Hill." Today, more than 150,000 people live within 5 miles (8 km) of the facility, and at least half a million people live within 10 miles (16 km).
The site is divided into four production and two buffer areas, (Area I, II, III, and IV, and the northern and southern buffer zones). Areas I through III were used for rocket testing, missile testing, and munitions development. Area IV was used primarily for nuclear reactor experimentation and development. Laser research for the Strategic Defense Initiative
Strategic Defense Initiative
The Strategic Defense Initiative was proposed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983 to use ground and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles. The initiative focused on strategic defense rather than the prior strategic...
(popularly known as "Star Wars"), was also conducted in Area IV.
Rocket engine development
North American AviationNorth American Aviation
North American Aviation was a major US aerospace manufacturer, responsible for a number of historic aircraft, including the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F-86 Sabre jet fighter, the X-15 rocket plane, and the XB-70, as well as Apollo Command and Service...
(NAA) began its development of liquid propellant rocket engines after the end of WWII
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The Rocketdyne
Rocketdyne
Rocketdyne was a Rocket engine design and production company headquartered in Canoga Park, California, United States. The company was related to North American Aviation for most of its history. NAA merged with Rockwell International, which was then bought by Boeing in December, 1996...
division of NAA, which came into being under its own name in the mid-1950s, designed and tested several rocket engines at the facility. They included engines for the Army's Redstone (an advanced short-range copy of the German V-2), and the Jupiter intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) as well as the Air Force's counterpart IRBM, the Thor. Also included were engines for the Atlas Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), as well as the twin combustion chamber alcohol/liquid oxygen booster engine for the NAVAHO, a large, intercontinental cruise missile that never became operational. Later, Rocketdyne designed and tested the huge F-1 engine that was eventually used as one of a cluster of engines powering the Apollo booster, as well as the J-2 liquid oxygen/hydrogen upper stage engine also used on the Project Apollo
Project Apollo
The Apollo program was the spaceflight effort carried out by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration , that landed the first humans on Earth's Moon. Conceived during the Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Apollo began in earnest after President John F...
spacecraft.
Nuclear and energy research and development
Atomics International
Atomics International was a division of the North American Aviation company which engaged principally in the early development of nuclear technology and nuclear reactors for both commercial and government applications...
Division of North American Aviation utilized SSFL Area IV as the site of United States first commercial nuclear power plant and the testing and development of the SNAP-10A
SNAP-10A
SNAP-10A was the first and so far only known launch of a U.S. nuclear reactor into space . The Systems Nuclear Auxiliary Power Program reactor was developed under the SNAPSHOT program overseen by the U.S...
, the first nuclear reactor launched into outer space by the United States. Atomics International also operated the Energy Technology Engineering Center for the U.S. government. As overall interest in nuclear power declined, Atomics International transitioned to non-nuclear energy-related projects, such as coal gasification, and gradually ceased designing and testing nuclear reactors. Atomics International was eventually merged with the Rocketdyne division in 1978.
Sodium reactor experiment
The Sodium Reactor ExperimentSodium Reactor Experiment
The Sodium Reactor Experiment was a pioneering nuclear power plant built by Atomics International at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, nearby Simi Valley, California. The reactor operated from 1957 to 1964...
-SRE was an experimental nuclear reactor which operated from 1957 to 1964 and was the first commercial power plant in the world to experience a core meltdown. There was a decades-long cover-up by the US Department of Energy. The operation predated environmental regulation, so early disposal techniques are not recorded in detail. Thousands of pounds of sodium coolant from the time of the meltdown are not yet accounted for.
The reactor and support systems were removed in 1981 and the building torn down in 1999.
Energy Technology Engineering Center
The Energy Technology Engineering CenterEnergy Technology Engineering Center
The Energy Technology Engineering Center , was a government-owned, contractor-operated complex of industrial facilities located within the Santa Susana Field Laboratory , Ventura County, California. The ETEC specialized in non-nuclear testing of components which were designed to transfer heat...
-ETEC, was a government-owned, contractor-operated complex of industrial facilities located within Area IV of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory. The ETEC specialized in non-nuclear testing of components which were designed to transfer heat from a nuclear reactor using liquid metals instead of water or gas. The center operated from 1966 to 1998. The ETEC site has been closed and is now undergoing building removal and environmental remediation by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Accidents and site contamination
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
s operated at SSFL, in addition to several "critical facilities": a sodium
Sodium
Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal and is a member of the alkali metals; its only stable isotope is 23Na. It is an abundant element that exists in numerous minerals, most commonly as sodium chloride...
burn pit in which sodium-coated objects were burned in an open pit; a plutonium
Plutonium
Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...
fuel
Nuclear fuel
Nuclear fuel is a material that can be 'consumed' by fission or fusion to derive nuclear energy. Nuclear fuels are the most dense sources of energy available...
fabrication facility; a uranium carbide
Uranium carbide
Uranium carbide, a carbide of uranium, is a hard refractory ceramic material. It comes in several stoichiometries , such as uranium monocarbide , uranium sesquicarbide ,...
fuel fabrication facility; and the purportedly largest "Hot Lab" facility in the United States at the time. (A Hot Lab is a facility used for remotely cutting up irradiated nuclear fuel
Nuclear fuel
Nuclear fuel is a material that can be 'consumed' by fission or fusion to derive nuclear energy. Nuclear fuels are the most dense sources of energy available...
.) Irradiated nuclear fuel from other Atomic Energy Commission
United States Atomic Energy Commission
The United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...
(AEC) and Department of Energy
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
(DOE) facilities from around the country were shipped to SSFL to be decladded and examined.
The Hot Lab suffered a number of fires involving radioactive
Radioactive decay
Radioactive decay is the process by which an atomic nucleus of an unstable atom loses energy by emitting ionizing particles . The emission is spontaneous, in that the atom decays without any physical interaction with another particle from outside the atom...
materials. For example, in 1957, a fire in the Hot Cell
Hot cell
Shielded nuclear radiation containment chambers are commonly referred to as hot cells. The word "hot" refers to radioactivity.Hot cells are used in both the nuclear-energy and the nuclear-medicines industries....
"got out of control and ... massive contamination" resulted. (see: NAA-SR-1941, Sodium Graphite
Nuclear Graphite
Nuclear graphite is any grade of graphite, usually electro-graphite, specifically manufactured for use as a moderator or reflector within nuclear reactors...
Reactor, Quarterly Progress Report, January–March 1957). In July, 1959, the site suffered a partial nuclear meltdown that has been named "the worst in U.S. history", releasing an undisclosed amount of radiation, but thought to be much more than the Three Mile Island disaster in 1979. Another radioactive fire occurred in 1971, involving combustible primary reactor coolant
Coolant
A coolant is a fluid which flows through a device to prevent its overheating, transferring the heat produced by the device to other devices that use or dissipate it. An ideal coolant has high thermal capacity, low viscosity, is low-cost, non-toxic, and chemically inert, neither causing nor...
(NaK
NaK
NaK, or sodium-potassium alloy, an alloy, of potassium , and sodium , is usually liquid at room temperature. Various commercial grades are available. NaK is highly reactive with water and may catch fire when exposed to air, so must be handled with special precautions...
) contaminated with mixed fission
Nuclear fission
In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts , often producing free neutrons and photons , and releasing a tremendous amount of energy...
products.
At least four of the ten nuclear reactors suffered accidents. The AE6 reactor experienced a release of fission gases
Fission product
Nuclear fission products are the atomic fragments left after a large atomic nucleus fissions. Typically, a large nucleus like that of uranium fissions by splitting into two smaller nuclei, along with a few neutrons and a large release of energy in the form of heat , gamma rays and neutrinos. The...
in March 1959, the SRE experienced a power excursion
Criticality accident
A criticality accident, sometimes referred to as an excursion or a power excursion, is an accidental increase of nuclear chain reactions in a fissile material, such as enriched uranium or plutonium...
and partial meltdown
Nuclear meltdown
Nuclear meltdown is an informal term for a severe nuclear reactor accident that results in core damage from overheating. The term is not officially defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency or by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission...
in July 1959; the SNAP8ER in 1964 experienced damage to 80% of its fuel; and the SNAP8DR in 1969 experienced similar damage to one-third of its fuel.
The reactors located on the grounds of SSFL were considered experimental, and therefore had no containment structures
Containment building
A containment building, in its most common usage, is a steel or reinforced concrete structure enclosing a nuclear reactor. It is designed, in any emergency, to contain the escape of radiation to a maximum pressure in the range of 60 to 200 psi...
. Reactors and highly radioactive components were housed without the large concrete domes that surround modern power reactors
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
.
Sodium burn pits
Sodium
Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal and is a member of the alkali metals; its only stable isotope is 23Na. It is an abundant element that exists in numerous minerals, most commonly as sodium chloride...
burn pit, an open-air pit for cleaning sodium-contaminated components, was also contaminated when radioactively- and chemically-contaminated items were burned in it, in contravention of safety requirements. In an article in the Ventura County Star, James Palmer, a former SSFL worker was interviewed. The article notes that "of the 27 men on Palmer's crew, 22 died of cancers." On some nights Palmer returned home from work and kissed "his wife [hello], only to burn her lips with the chemicals he had breathed at work." The report also noted that "During their breaks, Palmer's crew would fish in one of three ponds ... The men would use a solution that was 90 percent hydrogen peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide is the simplest peroxide and an oxidizer. Hydrogen peroxide is a clear liquid, slightly more viscous than water. In dilute solution, it appears colorless. With its oxidizing properties, hydrogen peroxide is often used as a bleach or cleaning agent...
to neutralize the contamination. Sometimes, the water was so polluted it bubbled. The fish died off." Palmer's interview ended on a somber note: "They had seven wells up there, water well
Water well
A water well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, boring or drilling to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The well water is drawn by an electric submersible pump, a trash pump, a vertical turbine pump, a handpump or a mechanical pump...
s, and every damn one of them was contaminated," Palmer said, "It was a horror story."
Other spills and releases occurred over the decades of operation as well. In 1989, a DOE
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
investigation found widespread chemical and radioactive contamination on the property. Widely publicized in the local press, the revelations led to substantial concern among community members and elected officials, resulting in a challenge to and subsequent shutdown of continued nuclear activity at the site, and the filing of lawsuits. Cleanup commenced, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
(EPA) was brought in at the request of local legislators to provide oversight.
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
(DOE) official, Mike Lopez, described typical clean-up procedures executed by Field Lab employees in the past. Workers would dispose of barrels filled with highly toxic waste
Toxic waste
Toxic waste is waste material that can cause death or injury to living creatures. It spreads quite easily and can contaminate lakes and rivers. The term is often used interchangeably with “hazardous waste”, or discarded material that can pose a long-term risk to health or environment.Toxic waste...
by shooting the barrels with rifles so that they would explode and release their contents into the air. It is unclear when this process ended, but for certain did end prior to the 1990s.
On July 26, 1994, two scientists, Otto K. Heiney, 52, of Chatsworth and Larry A. Pugh, 51, of Thousand Oaks, were killed when the chemicals they were illegally burning in open pits exploded. After a grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
investigation and FBI raid on the facility, three Rocketdyne
Rocketdyne
Rocketdyne was a Rocket engine design and production company headquartered in Canoga Park, California, United States. The company was related to North American Aviation for most of its history. NAA merged with Rockwell International, which was then bought by Boeing in December, 1996...
officials pleaded guilty in June 2004 to illegally storing explosive materials. The jury deadlocked
Hung jury
A hung jury or deadlocked jury is a jury that cannot, by the required voting threshold, agree upon a verdict after an extended period of deliberation and is unable to change its votes due to severe differences of opinion.- England and Wales :...
on the more serious charges related to illegal burning of hazardous waste.
At trial, a retired Rocketdyne mechanic testified as to what he witnessed at the time of the explosion:
"I assumed we were burning waste," Wells testified, comparing the process used on July 21 and 26, 1994, to that once used to legally dispose of leftover chemicals at the company's old burn pit. As Heiney poured the chemicals for what would have been the third burn of the day, the blast occurred, Wells said. "[The background noise] was so loud I didn't hear anything ... I felt the blast and I looked down and my shirt was coming apart."
When he realized what had occurred, Wells said, "I felt to see if I was all there ... I knew I was burned but I didn't know how bad."
Wildfires and contamination
In 2005, wildfireWildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
s swept through northern Los Angeles County and parts of Ventura County. The fires consumed most of the dry brush throughout the Simi Hills
Simi Hills
The Simi Hills are a low rocky mountain range of the Transverse Ranges, located in eastern Ventura County and western Los Angeles County, of southern California, United States.-Geography:...
where SSFL is located. The facility received substantial fire damage. Since the fire, allegations have emerged that vast quantities of on-site contamination were released into the air. Most recently, Los Angeles County firefighters who were assigned to SSFL during the fire have been sent for medical testing to see if any harmful doses were ingested or inhaled while protecting the facility.
While community members and firefighters have expressed concern about the amount of exposure, Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
officials stand by their position that no contamination of the air resulted from the fire, and that any contamination that may have been consumed by the fire was negligible.
California Department of Toxic Substances Control
California Department of Toxic Substances Control
The California Department of Toxic Substances Control is an agency of the government of the state of California. The Mission of the California Department of Toxic Substances Control is to provide the highest level of safety, and to protect public health and the environment from toxic harm...
also claims that no significant contamination occurred as a result of the fire. Although the Field Lab is under current criticism for violating almost 50 discharge permits, state agencies have been silent on the issue. Recently, lawyers disclosed to the California State Water Resources Control Board
California State Water Resources Control Board
The California State Water Resources Control Board is one of five branches of the California Environmental Protection Agency.-History:...
that over 80 exceedances of Boeing's discharge permits were found in the preceding year alone. In January 2006, the State Water Resources Control Board finally stepped in, and refused some requests by Boeing for even lighter standards.
Medical claims
Also in October 2005, plaintiffPlaintiff
A plaintiff , also known as a claimant or complainant, is the term used in some jurisdictions for the party who initiates a lawsuit before a court...
Margaret-Ann Galasso, in a suit against Boeing criticized her attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
s, who, as she claimed, accepted a $30 million dollar settlement with Boeing without her approval. The attorneys stand to collect $18 million, or 60% of the settlement amount after their costs and fees are subtracted. The plaintiff who disclosed the allegedly tainted deal is splitting the rest of the settlement with other plaintiffs and will only receive around $30,000, a far cry from the amount she will need for extensive future medical treatments for diseases that were linked to contamination from the SSFL facility.
In October 2006, the Santa Susana Field Laboratory Advisory Panel, made up of independent scientists and researchers from around the United States, concluded that contamination at the facility resulted in between 0 and 1,800 cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
deaths (the average estimate was 300 deaths). The report also concluded that the SRE meltdown caused the release of more than 458 times the amount of radiation released by the Three Mile Island accident
Three Mile Island accident
The Three Mile Island accident was a core meltdown in Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg, United States in 1979....
.http://ssflpanel.org
The SSFL Cleanup project
During its years of operation widespread use occurred of highly toxic chemical additives to power over 30,000 rocket engine tests and to clean the rocket test-stands afterwards, as well as considerable nuclear research and at least four nuclear accidents, which has resulted in the SSFL becoming a seriously contaminated site and offsite pollution source requiring a sophisticated multi-agency and corporate Cleanup Project. A long process has been and is still ongoing to determine the site contamination levels and locations, cleanup standards to meet, methods to use, timelines and costs, and completion requirements - all still being defined, debated, and litigated. The Santa Susana Field Lab Cleanup Project is a very complex challenge: technically, logistically, politically, legally, and emotionally.Regarding cleanup, the site's current owner is Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
, with NASA and DOE liable for several parcels within that. On August 2, 2005, Pratt & Whitney
Pratt & Whitney
Pratt & Whitney is a U.S.-based aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation . Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation and military aviation. Its headquarters are in East Hartford, Connecticut, USA...
purchased Boeing's Rocketdyne
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a United States company that designs and produces rocket engines that use liquid propellants. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, headquartered in Canoga Park, California, is a division of Pratt & Whitney, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation...
division, but declined to acquire SSFL as part of the sale.
Standards history
In 1989, the DOE found widespread chemical and radioactive contamination at their site, and a cleanup program commenced. In 1995 EPA and DOE announced that they had entered into a joint policy agreement to assure that all DOE sites would be cleaned up to standards consistent with the EPA's Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability ActSuperfund
Superfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 , a United States federal law designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances...
(CERCLA) standards.
However, in March 2003, the DOE reversed its position and announced that SSFL would not be cleaned up to EPA standards. While the DOE simultaneously claimed compliance with the 1995 joint policy agreement, the new plan included a cleanup of only 1% of the contaminated soil, and the release of SSFL for unrestricted residential use in as little as ten years. The EPA responded to this announcement by claiming that the DOE was not subject to EPA regulation due to the fact that the DOE existed as a separate entity under the executive branch of the federal government, and refused take steps to force DOE adherence to the 1995 agreement.
In August 2003, the Senate Appropriations Committee issued a report on Energy and Water Appropriations, urging the DOE to meet its commitments in the 1995 agreement and clean up SSFL to the EPA's CERCLA standards. The DOE responded to the Senate, claiming it was in fact consistent with both the agreement and EPA's CERCLA standards. In December 2003, soon after DOE's announcement that it was consistent with the 1995 agreement, EPA determined that the cleanup was not consistent with its CERCLA standards, and that sufficient contamination would remain at levels that would be dangerously inappropriate for unrestricted residential, and that the only safe use under DOE's revised cleanup standards would be restricted day hikes with limitations on picnicking.
Critics point out that if the DOE-Boeing cleanup plan was followed through and the site was released for unrestricted residential use, the property would likely become a Superfund site subject to EPA standards. After the sale, the site would no longer be a DOE facility, and thus, the exemption from CERCLA standards would no longer be in effect. The end result being that the site would only be brought into compliance with CERCLA cleanup standards after Boeing has sold the property, relieving the company of any burden of cleanup costs. The costs would likely be passed on to taxpayers, and not those responsible for the actual contamination.
In early May 2007, a Federal Court in San Francisco issued a major ruling which concluded that DOE has not been cleaning up the site to proper standards, and that the site would have to be cleaned up to higher standards if DOE ever wanted to release the site to Boeing, which in turn, would most likely release the land for unrestricted residential development. Judge "Conti's ruling requires DOE to prepare a more stringent review of the lab, which is on the border of Los Angeles County. Conti wrote that the department's decision to prepare a less-stringent environmental document prior to cleanup is in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act and noted that the lab 'is located only miles away from one of the largest population centers in the world.'"
Runoff issues
On July 26, 2007, staff at the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board recommended a $471,190 fine against Boeing for 79 violations of the California Water Code during an 18-month period. From October 2004 to January 2006, wastewater and storm water runoff coming from the lab had increased levels of chromium, dioxin, lead, mercury and other pollutants, the board said. The contaminated water flowed into Bell Creek and the Los Angeles RiverLos Angeles River
The Los Angeles River is a river that starts in the San Fernando Valley, in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and flows through Los Angeles County, California, from Canoga Park in the western end of the San Fernando Valley, nearly southeast to its mouth in Long Beach...
in violation of a July 1, 2004, permit that allowed release of wastewater and storm water runoff as long as it didn't contain high levels of pollutants.
Parkland
On October 15, 2007, Boeing announced that "In a landmark agreement between Boeing and California officials, nearly 2400 acres (10 km²) of land that is currently Boeing's Santa Susana Field Laboratory will become state parkland. According to the plan jointly announced by California Gov. Arnold SchwarzeneggerArnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
, Boeing, and state Sen. Sheila Kuehl
Sheila Kuehl
Sheila James Kuehl is an American politician, and a former child actress. She most recently served as a Democratic member of the California State Senate, representing the 23rd district in Los Angeles County and parts of southern Ventura County...
, the property will be donated and preserved as a vital undeveloped open-space link in the Santa Susana Mountains
Santa Susana Mountains
The Santa Susana Mountains are a transverse range of mountains in southern California, north of the city of Los Angeles, in the United States. The range runs east-west separating the San Fernando Valley and Simi Valley on its south, from Santa Clara River Valley to the north, and Santa Clarita...
above Simi Valley
Simi Valley
Simi Valley is a synclinal valley in Southern California in the United States. It is an enclosed or hidden valley surrounded by mountains and hills. It is connected to the San Fernando Valley to the east by the Santa Susana Pass & 118 freeway, and in the west the narrows of the Arroyo Simi and 118...
and the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
. The agreement will permanently restrict the land for nonresidential, noncommercial use."
SB 990
The California state senate bill SB 990, passed into law in 2007, set the standards for the site's cleanup. To achieve them the R.P.s, or responsible parties consisting of Boeing, DOE, and NASA, need to sign agreements of acceptance and cleanup compliance.Boeing
Boeing has contested the law, filing a lawsuit in September 2009 to release it from compliance, with a court date set for summer 2011.DOE and NASA
In September 2010 DOE and NASA agreed to meet the stringent cleanup standards set for the site in the state's SB 990 legislation, and to cover all costs for their cleanup's implementation. This agreement is significant progress in the SSFL cleanup sequence. The cleanup is projected to be completed in 2017.PPG - Public Participation Group
The CA-DTSC: SSFL Project, the lead regulatory agency for the site cleanup, is forming a new [Sept. 2010] PPG - Public Participation Group, in response to their community 'Listening Sessions' held earlier in the year and the proposed Listening Session Response Plan. Applications from all the 'stakeholder' I.P.s - interested parties: the public, community groups, neighbors, local environmental and cultural groups, and others are being accepted currently [Sept. 2010].SSFL Workgroup
Every quarter the SSFL Workgroup meetings regarding the cleanup are held that are open for public attendance. The SSFL Workgroup is the current version of the The Santa Susana Advisory Panel. The workgroup consists of representatives from the California Department of Toxic Substances Control and the U.S. EPA. Public policy organizations, with the lead Committee to Bridge the Gap, send representatives as part of the work group. The Boeing Company, current owner of the SSFL site, the DOE are also invited. Other organizations and private companies also attend as part of the workgroup depending on the topic pending. The meetings are usually held at The Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center, and are posted on the DTSC-SSFL Calendar page of their website.Community advisory group
An independent public entity, a "CAG" or community advisory group, is also forming as the ssfl-cag to support DTSC, other government agencies, and the R.P.s (responsible parties) with an open community based approach to supplement the Public Participation Group in facilitating the complex completion the SSFL site cleanup.Agencies
- CA-DTSC-Santa Susana Field Laboratory website: site investigation and cleanup news, Listserv e-mail newsletter, calendar, documentation download links, contacts. - PDF of a presentation given on August 19, 2003.
- The Santa Susana Advisory Panel
- The Rocketdyne Information Society Public Forum on SSFL cleanup.
- lamountains Sage Ranch Park website.
Groups and info
- Rocketdyne Cleanup Coalition: The Rocketdyne Cleanup Coalition (RCC) is a community-based alliance dedicated to the cleanup of SSFL. The group has been active since 1989 when it helped stop all nuclear activities at the site. RCC's website contains news, resources, and information about community meetings and events.
- ACME - Aerospace Cancer Museum of Education website: SSFL information repository; documents, photos, maps, and history archives, numerous project links.
- Cleanup Rocketdyne.org website: SSFL news, information resources, documents [pdf], public participation and community advisory group links.
- RIS - Rocketdyne Information Society: public online forum on SSFL cleanup process.
- SSFL-CAG community advisory group forum: SSFL cleanup support group, public online meetings and resources.
- The Santa Susana Advisory Panel: 2006 report archives
- Sage Ranch Park website - PDF of a presentation given on August 19, 2003.
Media
- EnviroReporter.com: Investigative news website that has coverage of Rocketdyne issues since 1998, often in partnership with regional publications including the LA Weekly and Ventura County Reporter newspapers.