San Fernando Valley : Report Blames Blast on Waste Disposal

State investigators probing the blast that killed two Rocketdyne physicists last year believe the men were improperly disposing of explosive waste rather than conducting technical experiments, as Rocketdyne officials have stated.

A report by state occupational health and safety officials says the test explosion that killed Otto K. Heiney and Larry A. Pugh appeared to be “a disguise for destroying” volatile waste material, which might have included chemicals used in making decoy flares for heat-seeking missiles.

The suspicion that Rocketdyne has been secretly blowing up waste apparently lies at the heart of a federal criminal investigation that surfaced last week when FBI agents and others raided the company and confiscated records related to waste disposal. Sources close to the case say the inquiry focuses on whether Rocketdyne defrauded the U.S. government out of millions of dollars over the past several years by improperly disposing of hazardous waste in violation of federal cleanup contracts and environmental laws.

Cal/OSHA has fined Rocketdyne more than $200,000 for numerous health and safety code violations in the fatal July 26, 1994, explosion. The company has appealed the citations.

Rocketdyne representatives Wednesday declined to comment on the investigations.