Removal of Soil Put Off Until Hearing

Bowing to pressure, including a request by two state lawmakers, one of the state agencies overseeing Boeing Co.’s cleanup of its rocket testing site near Simi Valley agreed Wednesday to delay soil removal in a contaminated area until after it holds a public meeting.

Earlier this month, the Department of Toxic Substances Control informed those living within five miles of the Rocketdyne Santa Susana Field Laboratory that it was instructing Boeing to remove up to 6,500 cubic yards of soil in an area with elevated levels of dioxin and chromium. The department originally gave members of the public two weeks to comment in writing.

This week, State Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) and Assemblywoman Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) sent a letter to the department’s director to request a public hearing. They want the comment period to be extended to 30 days after the hearing.

“This is a very complex issue with a very long and disturbing history. What’s the rush?” asked Louise Rishoff, Pavley’s district director. “It’s critical that the public has a chance to weigh in and make informed comments on something this serious. Especially the neighbors, who would have to bear the brunt of any adverse impacts coming off the site.”

Agency officials said Wednesday they would schedule a public meeting by Sept. 15, but that it could be held as early as late next month. Notice of the meeting will be mailed out beginning next week, said Jeanne Garcia, a department spokeswoman.

A portion of the field lab, known as Area 1, contains a concrete-lined pit where Rocketdyne burned wastes, such as solvents and fuels, used in other sections of the 2,800-acre hilltop rocket testing site. The burn pits were used on and off from about 1958 through the early 1980s.

Elevated levels of other pollutants, including trichloroethylene, perchlorate and other petroleum byproducts have also been detected in the burn pit.

Boeing spokesman Dan Beck said the aerospace giant, which bought Rocketdyne from Rockwell International Corp. in 1996, has pledged to work with regulators and adhere to whatever schedule the department sets.

“Boeing has been committed to a timely and thorough cleanup of the site in a way that protects the public health,” Beck said.

In a fact sheet mailed to 42,000 homes near the lab, the toxic substances control department said it intended to exempt the soil-removal project from state environmental regulations because it is a relatively small, interim step of the overall cleanup.

Garcia said Tuesday that state law does not require public notification or hearings for such interim projects. She said the department had hoped the excavation would be done by October, before the rainy season.

“The department has concerns because the contaminated soil is 200 to 300 feet from the drainage,” Garcia said.

She said the department asked for help from the state Department of Health Services and the federal Department of Energy because of concerns about radioactive contaminants, which are outside the jurisdiction of the toxic substances control department.

Environmental groups and others concerned about potential dangers posed by the field lab repeatedly have asked for a comprehensive environmental analysis of the complete cleanup plan. They argue that the soil removal and other jobs should not be done without such a study.

Mary Wiesbrock, chairwoman of Save Open Space-Santa Monica Mountains, has written to the agency asking for a public hearing and demanding that the state reject findings by an environmental consultant paid for by Boeing.

Wiesbrock wants experts with more independence brought in. Her group has questioned previous soil and groundwater testing and wants the state and Boeing to turn over all records detailing how fuels, solvents and other toxic wastes were destroyed in the burn pits.

“They need to get a better handle on the extent of the pollution,” Wiesbrock said.