By TO Acorn Staff | on August 19, 2022

WATERWAY—The Arroyo Simi trickles through Simi Valley on Aug. 12 MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers

Over pleas from residents and elected officials who wanted tougher restrictions, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board has approved an agreement with Boeing Co. that sets in motion the long-delayed cleanup of the Santa Susana Field Lab.

With a 5-0 vote Aug. 11, the board—with member Irma Munoz recusing herself—adopted a memorandum of understanding with Boeing that establishes processes and standards for testing stormwater discharge after the aerospace giant’s planned soil cleanup on its portion of the former rocket engine/nuclear research facility in the hills above Simi Valley.

The agreement requires Boeing to monitor stormwater that drains into local watersheds, including Calleguas Creek and the Los Angeles River, for 195 pollutants after the company completes its cleanup of the SSFL site. Boeing would have to test for the contaminants in several waterway outfalls for at least 12 storm events to ensure pollutant levels don’t violate federal water quality standards.

Under the agreement, if “multiple lines” of evidence show that stormwater leaving the site is not polluted, the board could relieve Boeing of its stormwater permit obligations after its soil cleanup is complete, said Renee Purdy, executive officer of the L.A. regional water board.

With approval of the MOU, cleanup of the SSFL is anticipated to begin in 2025, Purdy said.

The field lab began operating in the 1940s. Boeing Co. owns 80% of the 2,830-acre site, including Area IV, where a partial nuclear meltdown occurred in 1959. The remaining 20% is overseen by NASA on behalf of the federal government.

For years, cleanup has been stalled due to litigation and disputes over cleanup standards. Residents worry that chemical and radioactive contamination from the site could be contributing to a spike in cancer cases in the area.

The MOU is one of two agreements that comprise a “comprehensive framework” under which the SSFL site will be cleaned up, water board officials said.

The other agreement was made June 2 between the California Department of Toxic Substances Control and Boeing to settle ongoing disputes over Boeing’s cleanup obligation under a 2007 order.

The DTSC and the water board both fall under the umbrella of the California Environmental Protection Agency. DTSC has jurisdiction over the cleanup, soil and groundwater at the site and is setting the cleanup standards that Boeing must follow; the water board’s MOU covers the testing of stormwater runoff. Both agreements had to be in place before cleanup work could begin.

At the 10-hour meeting, held at Santa Clarita City Hall in Valencia, EPA Secretary Jared Blumenfeld said the deal facilitates “the long overdue soil and groundwater cleanup and creates the path to pollution-free stormwater runoff.”

“With your vote today, you can do your part to help solve a problem that has been literally generations in the making,” Blumenfeld said.

He commended staff for “ensuring that the proposed MOU imposes more stringent requirements on Boeing than those applied to other industrial stormwater permittees.”

Blumenfeld implored the board not to bow to requests to stall the vote, saying that delaying the vote delays the cleanup.

Despite reassurances by officials, the majority of public speakers, numbering in the hundreds at the meeting, including residents of Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and Camarillo, urged the board to reject the agreement.

Ventura County Supervisor Linda Parks said there needs to be a coordinated cleanup process involving Boeing, NASA and the Department of Energy. Without it, she said, the potential exists for cross-contamination and re-polluting of the Boeing site.

She said the board’s vote “could unintentionally trigger having one of the most polluted sites in the state continue to threaten the health of people, including children, for generations to come.”

Many residents living near the SSFL site spoke about their loved ones who were diagnosed with rare brain and other cancers.

West Hills resident Melissa Bumstead, founder of Parents Against Santa Susana Field Lab, said the group has identified 81 cases of pediatric cancer within a 10-mile radius of the SSFL.

Jeff Ruch, founder and executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said the agreement is an “unprecedented concession to an industrial polluter who wants to use this as an instrument to escape past cleanup obligations.”

He said that under the DTSC agreement reached in June, Boeing will be allowed to leave between 90% and 95% of the contaminants untouched.

That contention was rebutted by Meredith Williams, DTSC director, who said Boeing will be required to remove all soil necessary “to achieve the target results.”

Critics also said the agreement places Boeing in charge of monitoring its own compliance and corrective measures, which officials also denied.

Jenny Newman, assistant executive officer for the water board, said that in permit situations, dischargers always conduct self-monitoring and reporting in state-certified labs under penalty of perjury and threat of significant fines. She added that oversight will be done by state agencies.

Water board members said they relied on scientific data and reassurances by Boeing to make their decision.

“I have heard the anguished cries of the community (and) it’s incumbent upon us not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good, but to move forward,” board member David Nahai said.

The board agreed to make some changes, including giving the public access to post-cleanup monitoring results.

Williams said she was grateful for the water board’s careful consideration.

“Today’s vote clears the way for a stringent cleanup at one of the nation’s most polluted sites and is a monumental step forward after decades of stalled progress,” she said.

Ruch said before the vote that a settlement with Boeing was done without any public hearing or review, a violation of the California Environmental Quality Act.

“I can assure you there will be CEQA litigations filed within days of this MOU approval,” he said.

The field lab site remains a danger to the public, Bumstead said, adding that Boeing exceeded the legal amount for rain runoff contamination 12 times last year.

To date, Boeing has paid more than $770,000 for violations of the stormwater permit.

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