State to Seek Settlement or File Charges Against Rockwell

The state attorney general’s office said Thursday it expects to file a civil complaint against Rockwell International unless it can reach an out-of-court settlement with the firm over alleged hazardous waste violations at its Santa Susana Field Laboratory west of Chatsworth.

Deputy Atty. Gen. Ken Alex said the case was formally referred to his office early Thursday by the state Department of Health Services, which previously had cited Rockwell for hazardous waste violations after an inspection last June of the 2,668-acre test site.

The attorney general will pursue the case “with an eye toward filing a civil complaint,” according to Alex. But he said Rockwell will first be approached about reaching a settlement, which would result in the filing of a consent decree.

Alex said there is little chance the state will drop the case, “unless the company gives us information that we’re not currently aware of.”

Each hazardous waste violation carries a penalty of up to $25,000 per day. Rockwell’s potential exposure is great, since some of the allegations involve long-term non-compliance--such as years of operating waste treatment equipment without needed permits.

However, it was unclear how many counts might be filed in court. State health officials originally cited Rockwell for 13 violations after the June inspection. But health officials said in the past that they had dropped some counts, based on a follow-up investigation and Rockwell’s response last October to the original citation.

Rich Varenchik, a spokesman in Burbank for the health department’s toxic substances control division, declined to discuss the number of counts referred to the attorney general. Alex said he did not know how many counts will be filed, pending a review of the file.

In its inspection last June, the state did not cite Rockwell for toxic spills or illegal discharges, but rather for failure to meet compliance deadlines, submit required plans and obtain permits for cleanup equipment--such as air-stripping towers the firm is using to treat ground water tainted by chemical solvents.

But officials said this does not mean the case is minor. “As a general rule, operation without a permit is a serious violation,” Alex said.

A Rockwell official said he was irritated and surprised that the health department referred the case to the attorney general without telling the company.

Steve Lafflam, manager of environmental affairs for Rockwell’s Rocketdyne Division, which runs the Santa Susana lab, said Rockwell had supplied the health department with documents missing from the state’s files in an effort to show “the alleged violations were inaccurate and erroneous. . . .

“We thought we were working very closely with them,” Lafflam said. “We really thought we had resolved most of the issues.”

The Santa Susana lab has been engulfed in controversy since reports last spring of low level radioactive and chemical contamination caused by nuclear and other energy research. The work has been carried out in a 290-acre portion of the test site for more than 30 years for the U.S. Department of Energy and its predecessor, the Atomic Energy Commission.

However, most of the 13 violations originally cited by the health department involved non-nuclear areas of Santa Susana, where Rockwell does rocket testing for the Air Force and NASA.

In another development Thursday, DOE regional officials for the first time disclosed that President Bush’s budget proposal contains $7.6 million for environmental cleanup and waste management activities at Santa Susana in fiscal 1991, well below what agency officials had sought.

Although Bush’s budget plan was unveiled Monday, officials at DOE’s San Francisco operations office said they did not know until Thursday how much money was included for the Santa Susana lab, one of the sites under their jurisdiction. They said a previous news report citing a budget figure of $9.8 million was erroneous.

Altogether, DOE officials are seeking $35 million through fiscal 1995 to remove contamination from soil, ground water and buildings at Santa Susana and to bring equipment into compliance with new pollution control limits.

Rockwell, DOE and health officials say existing contamination at the site poses no immediate hazard to workers or neighbors.

The Bush proposal, which must be considered by Congress, includes $2.8 billion next year for environmental cleanup at DOE nuclear weapons plants and test sites nationwide, up from $2.2 billion this year, a DOE official said.