Pollution Study at Rockwell Lab Begins

U.S. Department of Energy officials Friday told a task force of environmental agencies that they have begun an environmental audit of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory to assure that all contaminated areas of the research complex west of Chatsworth have been identified.

At a meeting in Burbank of the task force on pollution problems at Santa Susana, DOE officials said their audit team also will develop a comprehensive plan covering long-term environmental monitoring and cleanup needs at the test site, where Rockwell International has done nuclear and other energy work for the DOE.

It was the second meeting of a task force of local, state and federal environmental officials that was convened earlier this summer by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to assure that contamination problems at the site southeast of Simi Valley are being addressed.

“It appears they’re quite serious about getting a good handle on the pollution that’s there,” said Rich Vaille, assistant chief of waste programs for the EPA’s western regional office, referring to the DOE audit team. Vaille spoke to reporters after the task force meeting, which was not open to the press or public.

Location of Meetings

Federal officials also announced Friday the time and location of meetings later this month on the proposed renewal of Santa Susana’s nuclear materials license.

While agreeing with Rockwell and DOE officials that pollution at Santa Susana appears to be fairly minor and poses no immediate threat to the public, EPA officials had criticized aspects of Rockwell’s environmental monitoring program and the lack of a reliable inventory of contaminated areas.

Earlier this summer, an EPA radiation expert expressed doubt in a memo that Rockwell had “a good ‘handle’ on where radiation has been inadvertently or intentionally dumped on-site . . . Most of the evidence on site spills is incompletely documented or anecdotal,” the memo said.

In response to another EPA recommendation, Rockwell officials told the task force Friday that they expect to select and hire by Dec. 1 a panel of experts to review their radiation monitoring program, including laboratory techniques for measuring radioactivity in water and soil.

DOE officials also presented a summary report estimating that $45.5 million will be spent on cleanup at Santa Susana through fiscal 1995 if sufficient funds are appropriated by Congress for cleanup of DOE sites nationwide. DOE officials have previously estimated cleanup needs at about $40 million.

Radioactive Pollution

The work will include cleanup of contamination remaining in soil and buildings from three decades of nuclear work, including operation of 16 small nuclear reactors and recycling of nuclear fuel. Cleanup work has been done over the years, but areas of radioactive pollution remain in the 290 acres of the 2,668-acre site devoted to work for DOE.

“We have been operating that area in a very safe manner, and there is nothing for anybody to worry about,” said Pat Coulter, a spokesman for Rockwell’s Rocketdyne Division.

Still, news of contamination at the site, prompted by release in May of a DOE survey report, has spurred a local campaign to block renewal of the federal license Rockwell needs to operate Santa Susana’s “hot cell”--a heavily shielded area where nuclear fuel is handled. Rockwell has asked the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a 10-year renewal of the license, which technically expired in June but has been extended pending review of the application.

On Friday the NRC announced that the State Office Building at 6150 Van Nuys Blvd. will be the site of hearings Sept. 28-29 on Rockwell’s license renewal request. Both meetings will be in Room 120.

At the first session, scheduled from 7 to 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 28, Administrative Law Judge Peter B. Bloch will take oral or written statements of no more than 10 minutes, the NRC said. The agency said speaking priority could be obtained by notifying Bloch at the NRC, Washington, D.C. 20555, by letter mailed by Sept. 21.

At the Sept. 29 session, scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m., Bloch will consider the request of 38 petitioners who objected to the license renewal to be parties to the proceeding, which would allow them to present formal evidence.