Health Agency Criticized in Rocketdyne Case

State investigators on Friday criticized California’s health protection agency for its conduct at Rocketdyne’s missile test lab near Simi Valley.

The state report accuses the Department of Health Services of failing to communicate pollution hazards to the public, withholding controversial studies and having cozy dealings with the company.

It accuses the agency, a key player in assessing potential health risks related to the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, of duplicity for publicly promising an in-depth health study, but internally calling it unwarranted.

“There can no longer be any doubt that there has been a serious breach of responsibility on the part of DHS,” said Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica).

Gov. Gray Davis ordered the inquiry in May in response to concerns by environmentalists, Kuehl, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein that the health department was acting in collusion with the company. The investigation, conducted over three months by a branch of the California Environmental Protection Agency, confirms some of those suspicions. But it also challenges the perception that toxic and radioactive contamination at the 2,668-acre site pose a menace to people living nearby.

Anita Gore, a spokeswoman for the state Health and Human Services Agency, which oversees the health department, said agency officials received a copy of the report Friday and were still reading it. She said the department did not intend to mislead the public.