Residents fearing conta-mination and cancer risk for themselves and future generations from the Santa Susana Field Lab filed a lawsuit against Boeing and the Department of Toxic Substances.
They lost.
On January 8, the court rejected their petition challenging a prior cleanup agreement for the site.
Parents Against Santa Susana Field Lab, Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility claimed that a 2022 agreement between Boeing and The Department of Toxic Substances precluded a full environmental review from CEQA (the California Environmental Quality Act).
They refer to some studies that show a greater increase in cancer among the 700,000 residents living directly below the site, though causation has not been proven. They argue that the site has never been fully cleared, and that the 2022 agreement will leave significant amounts of contamination on site.
The Santa Susana Field Lab is a highly controversial toxic site. In the 1950’s and 60’s it was used for rocket engine testing and nuclear research, leaving radioactive and hazardous material behind. In 1959 the sodium nuclear reactor had the first meltdown of a core reactor in history. For years the community has called for intensive cleanup.
The 2,850-acre lab is owned 80% by Boeing and the rest by NASA and the Department of Energy.
The Department of Toxic Substances and the Environmental Protection Agency are responsible for the cleanup.
The lawsuit focused on the area of the site that Boeing is responsible for, and claimed that the 2022 agreement did not require soil cleanup mandated to a residential standard and was negotiated before a full CEQA review.
It cited the 2008 Supreme Court case Save Tara, which ruled officials violated CEQA by approving elements of a West Hollywood housing project before the official review was finished. The ruling stated that agencies cannot commit to actions or alternatives before a full CEQA review is finished.
The January court ruling in the SSFL lawsuit said that the Save Tara argument was not applicable as the two cases were different.
Plaintiffs in the SSFL lawsuit allege that the 2022 agreement will allow Boeing to leave 90 to 95% of contaminants on the site.
Denise Duffield, Associate Director of Physicians for Social Responsibility, said, “The agreement was negotiated privately , without public input or representation of the community’s interests. It breaks prior promises for a safe and complete cleanup.”
The plaintiffs have vowed to continue fighting the court ruling.
For related editorial see page 4 of this paper.
