Regulators, Rocketdyne Ties Probed

The state Department of Health Services will launch an internal investigation to determine whether agency representatives worked with Rocketdyne to dissolve a citizens committee overseeing health studies at the company’s Santa Susana Field Laboratory, officials said Monday.

The decision to launch the investigation came after Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) made public a number of documents she said shows how the agency and Rocketdyne officials tried two years ago to gain greater control over an ongoing inquiry into possible contamination and related illnesses caused by decades of nuclear and chemical testing at the lab.

“We are going to take these allegations at face value and see if they bear any fruit,” said Jim Stratton, deputy director of prevention services for the Department of Health Services. “I can’t say where this will take us, but we are taking this seriously.”

Department officials have not decided who will conduct the investigation, but said it will be handled by an outside auditing agency to avoid any conflicts of interest.

Rocketdyne officials denied any wrongdoing, saying the company only worked with health officials to ensure that good science be used in future studies aimed at determining whether contamination has occurred in the area surrounding the lab site.

“Our policy has always been to be candid, open and give them what they want. To say that there’s been collusion is absolutely ludicrous,” said Steve Lafflam, Rocketdyne’s division director for safety, health and environmental affairs. “What we felt and still feel is that as these studies move on, we need a panel that is going to understand the issue and one that represents those involved.”

Lafflam acknowledged that Rocketdyne submitted a list of possible alternative committee candidates that included community members and company officials. He said the company also asked that scientists with expertise in hydrology, soil composition and geology be included.

But Lafflam said all this was done at the request of state health officials.

Stratton, who disputed allegations that the department had an improper relationship with Rocketdyne, said the decision to pursue an investigation came after Kuehl called for the resignation of several department officials based on information she had gathered from the anti-nuclear organization Bridge the Gap. The group collected the documents through a public records search.

Kuehl said the internal memorandums, copies of e-mail and letters she obtained illustrate that Rocketdyne and health officials planned to dissolve the committee. She said they apparently wanted to replace members with others who would be more receptive to the company’s position on health and environmental issues.

The eight-member citizens committee includes six scientists and two community representatives. It was formed several years ago to oversee a $1.6-million health study of Rocketdyne workers and to direct a multimillion-dollar cleanup of the 2,600-acre facility.

Kuehl points to a December 1997 memo prepared by Rocketdyne consultant Susan Santos and sent to state health officials recommending that a new advisory panel be created with “limited scope and time duration.”

In addition, Santos wrote that the new committee should be able to work closely with Rocketdyne and develop a “constructive relationship” with the company.

Kuehl also accused health officials of suppressing a survey that found a 15% increase in the number of lung cancer cases in and around the field lab. The legislator made the findings public two weeks ago after obtaining a copy of the report.

State health officials said they did not release the findings because they believed that the study’s methodology was flawed and did not consider other factors such as smoking. In addition, the study did not find evidence of any red-flag illnesses such as leukemia, which would have alerted officials to possible contamination.

“I was stunned by the information that was given to me,” Kuehl said Monday. “These requests [for a new panel] just strike me as totally improper because I don’t see anything wrong with the panel that’s in place. . . . Rocketdyne should not sit in, they should be a subject of the investigation, not a party in it.”

Former Assemblyman Richard Katz, who helped create the original citizens panel and serves as its co-chair, agreed, saying that the company has a history of blocking committee inquiries and working with the state health department to undermine the citizens panel’s authority.

“It’s shocking except in the fact that this has been going on for years,” he said. “It’s important to keep this panel independent so that it can serve the interest of the public. . . . Trying to do otherwise is not going to do anyone except Rocketdyne any good.”

Ventura County lawmakers said the relationship between Rocketdyne and the department has been a point of concern for some time, but urged that caution be used before jumping to any conclusions.

“I know that the department of health has dragged its feet on a number of occasions and tried to eliminate the advisory committee,” said state Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley), who stopped short of endorsing Kuehl’s call to oust department officials.

Supervisor Judy Mikels, whose district includes the lab, said the allegations deserve close scrutiny before any actions are taken.

“It is a highly emotional issue, and people on all sides of the issue have their own special interests,” she said. “I think what we need to do is be very practical in our approach and move on in a well-planned, scientific way.”

However, officials at both Rocketdyne and the health department said that too much damage may have already been done.

They fear that public confidence may have eroded to such a point that any future studies and recommendations may not be seen as working toward a greater good.

“It’s unfortunate and frustrating,” Lafflam said. “The public is the key player in all of this, and blowing holes in the health agency is a disservice to everyone.”

Times staff writer Tracy Wilson contributed to this story.