Miscommunication between the Sacramento and Glendale offices of the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) means residents will likely have to wait until January for an update on toxins found in and around the Sterling Homes development property near Dayton Creek in West Hills.

DTSC officials announced at last week’s Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL)Workgroup Meeting they would not address the multi-agency workgroup regarding perchlorate found at Dayton Creek, a small stream that cuts through the West Hills property owned by Dallas-based home developer Centex Corporation.

The delay has left a number of environmentalists and residents frustrated. Some say it’s another example of the communication problems plaguing the workgroup.

“It’s all about communicating, and if you don’t, in the end, it’s the public that gets hurt,” said Daniel Hirsch, a member of the workgroup panel and head of the environmental watchdog group Committee to Bridge the Gap.

Jeanne Garcia, a spokesperson for the DTSC, said it was a simple case of conflicting schedules. Garcia said Sara Amire, the DTSC representative slated to give the presentation, was in Santa Clarita at another community meeting at the time of the workgroup conference in Simi Valley.

Headed by the United States Protection Agency, the workgroup meets quarterly to discuss the ongoing effort to clean up the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, a 2,668acre parcel in the Santa Susana Hills used by Rocketdyne, the Defense Department, NASA and the Energy Department to conduct rocket, missile and nuclear testing.

The debate over the Centexowned property, located 1.5 miles east of Rocketdyne’s test field, was sparked after the land was purchased by Centex in 2004. Since 1989, multiple developers have worked to build on the land.

At the time Centex bought the land, an environmental impact report had already been approved for homes to be built on the property.

The EIR was cleared in spite of the fact the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board found perchlorate in Dayton Creek around 2001.

Perchlorate, a highly soluble chemical substance used in liquid rocket propellant road flares and fireworks, is known to impair thyroid function.

Centex officials say further environmental reports done in 2003 show perchlorate in the Dayton Creek area was not found after Boeing, Rocketdyne’s parent company, removed tons of perchloratecontaminated soil from the test field.

Regardless, pressure from the media, environmentalists and residents living near Dayton Creek led city of Los Angeles officials to question the thoroughness of the original environmental report.

In response, Centex hired AllWest Remediation, an environmental consulting firm, to take further soil samples to test for toxins such as perchlorate and for radioactive material.

There is debate between environmentalists and Centex officials over whether or not the developer hired AllWest Remediation because they were required to by the city or whether they did so voluntarily.

“We entered into the testing voluntarily,” said John Fitzpatrick, a senior project manager for Centex.

“Don’t be fooled,” said Elizabeth Crawford, a senior environmental specialist with the Physicians for Social Responsibility. “(Centex) had to do the sampling in order to get the OK from the city.”

As a result of the testing in and around Dayton Creek, perchlorate levels as high as 62,000 parts per million were found along the creek. This number far exceeds safe environmental levels.

At last week’s meeting, Hirsch said these numbers are dangerously high. He said that 62,000 parts per million of perchlorate roughly translates to six grams of perchlorate for every 100 grams of soil.

Fitzpatrick said perchlorate testing is ongoing, and results will continue to be released as they are made available.

The DTSC is conducting its own soil samples. According to a recent update released by the DTSC, they “submitted the soil samples to the Hazardous Materials Laboratory in Los Angeles to be analyzed for perchlorate. Results are pending.”

The origin of perchlorate has caused further disagreement between the two sides.

Centex, Boeing and the DTSC all say there is a lack of evidence connecting the perchlorate found in Dayton Creek to Rocketdyne’s test field.

Residents and environmentalists believe it’s unreasonable to think the perchlorate came from any source other than Rocketdyne.

Fitzpatrick said that because of perchlorate’s high solubility, it should be found in soil and water samples taken at points between the test field and the Centex property. Tests of those samples, Fitzpatrick said, found no perchlorate.

Thus, Centex officials don’t believe the perchlorate found in Dayton Creek came from Rocketdyne.

“A lot of focus is on SSFL, which is understandable,” Fitzpatrick said. “But we don’t see how there is a connection to us, and neither does the DTSC.”

In an interview in early September, Steve Lafflam, division director of safety, health and environmental affairs for Boeing, contended that perchlorate in the environment could come from a number of other products in which it is used, such as fertilizer, road flares and fireworks.

Hirsch said Dayton Creek originates from Happy Valley—a 384-acre lot on the test field known for its high concentration of perchlorate. “Perchlorate in that area tested as high as 75,000 parts per million,” Hirsch said. “It’s been there for 50 years, and we don’t expect it to be high on top and low below. Eventually, it would be low on top and high below as it washes off.” Ali Tabidian, professor of hydrogeology at Cal State Northridge for more than 16 years, said he thinks that because of the faster water current typically found higher on a hill, it’s reasonable to assume the perchlorate was washed further downstream into areas—like Dayton Creek—where the water pools.

On the Simi Valley side of the test field, the Southern California Water Company announced that for more than a year, trace amounts of perchlorate had been found in well water that’s being blended with residential drinking water in Simi Valley. The announcement was made in July.

The next SSFL workgroup meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wed., Jan. 11 at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center.