Boxer Assails Lab Cleanup Standards
U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, echoing concerns raised by critics of Boeing Co.’s Rocketdyne plant near Chatsworth, urged federal regulators Tuesday to impose stringent standards for removal of radioactive waste.
“The standards for this cleanup are inadequate [and] stand to increase cancer risk dramatically,” the California Democrat said.
At issue are the limits being used to decontaminate radioactive wastes left over from operation of atomic reactors once used at the 2,700-acre site.
The U.S. Department of Energy advocates using standards it says are health-protective, but are more permissive than U.S. Environmental Protection Agency limits.
Rocketdyne tests engines for rockets and missiles at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory. In a letter Tuesday, Boxer called on Energy Secretary Bill Richardson to strengthen the cleanup standards applied at Rocketdyne.
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