UCLA to Study Rockwell Workers
A team of epidemiologists from UCLA has been chosen to conduct a health study of workers at Rockwell International’s Santa Susana Field Laboratory in the hills southeast of Simi Valley, officials said.
The UCLA team won over four research groups that also sought the contract for the 18-month study, which is expected to cost more than $500,000. The investigation is meant to determine if Rockwell workers experienced any unusual patterns of illness from exposure to toxic and radioactive materials at the test complex in the Simi Hills.
The UCLA proposal was favored by a majority of an advisory panel overseeing the health study, said Larry Bilick, a community relations specialist for the California Health Foundation, which is affiliated with the occupational health program of the California Department of Health Services. The 13-member advisory committee consists mainly of community representatives and scientists.
“It’s a good proposal . . . and we’re looking forward to a good study,” Bilick said.
The study will be funded by the U. S. Department of Energy. The agency and its predecessor, the Atomic Energy Commission, sponsored three decades of nuclear research at the Santa Susana lab.
Rockwell officials have said they will cooperate with the study.
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