State, County Assail SOS Plant Study as Confusing

State and Los Angeles County health officials said Tuesday that a federal study which concluded that cancer-causing chemicals spread from a Santa Clarita Valley defense contractor to private wells near the plant was confusing and probably misleading.

The federal study contradicted previous studies that said the chemicals were confined to soil and water at the site of Space Ordnance Systems, a manufacturer of explosives convicted of illegally storing and dumping hazardous chemicals in 1986.

The study’s conclusions have left some health experts “scratching our heads,” said Richard Varenchik, a spokesman for the state Department of Health Services.

The federal study, released May 11, was prepared by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, an affiliate of Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. The authors of the study, both environmental health specialists, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The study was requested by Rep. Carlos J. Moorhead (R-Glendale) after the family of the late Robert Hercules charged last June that pollutants from the SOS plant may have caused four cancer deaths in the family between 1983 and 1989.

The federal study said that, based on computer analysis and test data from local wells, chemicals such as trichloroethylene, a carcinogen known as TCE, were present in domestic wells in the canyon. The study did not label SOS a public health hazard but recommended that residents of Sand Canyon, a secluded community east of the Antelope Valley Freeway, and nearby Gorman Canyon not drink water from private wells.

Tuesday was the first meeting of the monitoring committee, charged with overseeing the cleanup of the SOS site in Sand Canyon, since the study was released.

Barbara Worth, representing the Sand Canyon Homeowners Assn., said the study had concerned canyon residents and asked why the study contradicted earlier reports.

Committee members said they could not explain the contradictions, even though the study was based on data collected by the agencies represented on the committee. But committee members cited what they said were errors in the study.

The study said that Robert Hercules had a private well when in fact the family was on the public water supply, said Jo Anne Darcy, a field deputy to Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich.

Alan Opel, a former executive at TransTechnology, the parent company of SOS, also questioned the report’s reference to traces of styrene in three wells, including the non-existent Hercules well. Minute traces of styrene, an oily liquid that irritates the eyes, were found only once, and its presence was never confirmed by later tests, he said.

“All these styrene numbers are bogus,” Opel said.

Committee members said they intend to file detailed questions about the report with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Meanwhile, the agency is planning to hold a public forum in Santa Clarita this summer to explain and discuss the findings.