U.S. to Investigate Rocketdyne Site

Responding to long-held fears that people living near Rocketdyne’s Santa Susana Field Laboratory are being exposed to cancer risks, a team of federal health officials will be sent to the site to investigate and perhaps recommend a full-blown public health study, it was announced Friday.

A team from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is expected to arrive Sept. 15 at the 2,700-acre field lab in the hills between Simi Valley and Chatsworth to review data, talk to other federal officials and interview residents, federal officials said.

“After a recent worker health study found elevated cases of cancer in Rocketdyne employees, the surrounding community is rightfully concerned,” said Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley), whose office made the announcement.

Members of the health team, from the federal agency’s Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, will spend five to 10 days at the site. The team will determine what, if any, actions should be taken, officials said.

One possible option is a community health study--something that Rocketdyne critics have long called for, Gallegly’s office said. The team’s findings will be presented to Gallegly and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) by mid-November.

Both elected officials have pushed for the federal investigation for more than a year.

“Given the proximity of the site to homes and people, I believe the residents have a right to know whether they, too, are at high risk of getting cancer,” Feinstein said in the short statement released by Gallegly’s office.

Officials with Rocketdyne, a division of Seattle-based Boeing Co., could not be reached late Friday for comment.

Simi Valley resident Edward J. Sheehan, who has lived half a mile from the Rocketdyne plant for 15 years, applauded the legislators’ efforts.

“We’re fighting the big boys,” Sheehan said. “All the help we can get is appreciated. They should have done this years ago.”

Sheehan, 70, has cancer of the esophagus and his wife has cancer of the kidney. Both believe their illnesses are related to the toxins produced by the lab.

Sheehan is a plaintiff in one of several class-action lawsuits filed against Rocketdyne alleging health and property damage related to pollutants at its Santa Susana lab.

A federal suit filed last summer states that residents believe chemicals and radioactive waste from Cold War research have left their air, water and soil a toxic mess.

The field laboratory was used to conduct nuclear research and chemical testing for decades.

The area possibly affected includes neighborhoods in Simi Valley, West Hills, Woodland Hills, the Santa Susana Knolls, Chatsworth and Box and Bell canyons.

Nuclear-fuel handling at the lab was discontinued in 1989. The federal government has so far spent $55 million to remove radioactive soil, concrete and building materials from the western portion of the site.