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State Says Rockwell Violated U. S. Ground-Water Test Rules

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

State regulators have accused Rockwell International of violating federal regulations governing testing of ground water from monitoring wells at the company’s Santa Susana Field Laboratory west of Chatsworth.

None of the 16 alleged violations are believed to pose a threat to residents or Rockwell workers, state Department of Health Services officials said. The accusations primarily concern the way Rockwell has been sampling water from wells to detect chemical contaminants at the 2,668-acre complex.

The company monitors 147 wells on the site as well as several off-site wells, Rockwell spokesman Paul Sewell said. The wells at issue test ground water for contamination from three covered, man-made ponds that store toxic trichloroethylene, or TCE, a solvent used to clean rocket engines tested at the facility.

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Sewell said the allegations are groundless but that the company will draw up plans for complying with the regulations by the April 22 deadline. “We disagree with the Department of Health Services that these are necessary or that the findings are valid,” he said.

In November, Rockwell agreed to pay a $280,000 fine to settle a state lawsuit alleging hazardous waste violations at the Santa Susana lab and the company’s main Canoga Park plant. Sewell said that as part of the settlement, the state agreed to drop allegations of ground-water testing violations.

He said that at the time, the state applied state standards, but was now using federal regulations--which are slightly different--to revive the allegations.

Florence Pearson, senior hazardous materials specialist for the health department’s toxic substances control program, said Rockwell has never been immune from federal regulations. “There’s never been in California a situation where we would have the ability to only apply state standards,” she said.

The new violations were alleged after state inspectors visited the Santa Susana lab in September.

Among other things, state health officials want Rockwell to submit a detailed plan showing how it samples and analyzes ground water at the site, improve methods for detecting sample errors, monitor wells near contaminated ponds more frequently, and install additional monitoring wells.

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Rockwell was notified of the allegations Monday in a letter from the toxic substances control program office in Burbank. They were made in a “report of violations,” which essentially tells an alleged violator what it is doing wrong and gives it a chance to meet with state regulators to solve the problems.

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