Fund Rocketdyne Health Study

It was a week of bombshells and not-quite-bombshells at Rocketdyne’s Santa Susana Field Laboratory.

The former: 53-year-old artillery shells, detonated with elaborate precautions and only mild controversy as part of ongoing cleanup of contamination from 50 years of rocket and nuclear reactor testing at the lab.

The latter: two medical reports that added to concern and uncertainty over possible health hazards to neighbors of the lab, located in the rugged hills between Simi Valley and Chatsworth. Both reports raised more questions than they answered.

The first report, released Thursday, shows 17% more cases of lung cancer than expected among 91,000 people living within five miles of the Rocketdyne lab. That report, by the Central Coast division of the California Cancer Registry, does not identify the cause of the higher disease rates. Its author said factors could include smog, old age or smoking habits in addition to pollution from Rocketdyne. Of even greater concern than the study’s inconclusive results is the fact that state officials have known about it for two years but did not disclose it.

The second report, released Friday, is the second of two UCLA studies that examined medical histories of lab employees. Like the earlier study of radiation exposure, this study of chemical exposure found higher than normal levels of some types of cancers among workers most exposed.

The cure for 50 years of pollution at Rocketdyne test lab site is a massive cleanup, which the company is doing and plans to continue until 2007 at a cost of $55 million. The cure for lingering suspicion and fear is openness, thorough research and solid information. To achieve that goal, The Times repeats its call for the federal government to fund a health study of people who live near the lab.

They have lived in uncertainty long enough.