Consumer group files lawsuit over alleged radioactive waste
A coalition of environmental activists and consumer groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the state Department of Toxics Substances Control, seeking an injunction to stop the demolition and disposal of buildings at the Santa Susana Field Lab.
Consumer Watchdog, Physicians for Social Responsibility and other groups have accused the state of putting the public at risk by allowing low-level radioactive waste from the former nuclear research facility to be illegally disposed of in landfills not licensed to receive such material.
But state officials vehemently disputed those allegations. In a conference call with reporters Tuesday afternoon, Toxics Deputy Director Stewart Black called the group’s allegations “irresponsible” and “reprehensible.”
“I’m appalled at the reckless nature … of the inaccurate characterization of the clean up,” he said, adding that the report has generated “unnecessary fear in Southern California communities.”
Toxics officials maintain that waste has been disposed of safely.
The Santa Susana Field Lab, situated in Ventura County on the western edge of the San Fernando Valley, was the site of the country’s first partial nuclear meltdown. The property is now owned by Boeing Co. and NASA, and the terms of its clean up have been controversial for years.
The issue now moves to a Sacramento Court, who will hold a hearing in the coming days on the allegations.
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