City, county should endorse proposed state legislation concerning SSFL cleanup
For years, local officials have insisted that the goings-on of Rocketdyne, Boeing Co. and the cleanup of the former site of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory were matters beyond their control.

That no matter how much they wished to protect the interests of local residents- many of whom live just a few miles from the 2,850acre former rocket testing site in the hills south of Simi Valley- they felt impotent because the property fell under the jurisdiction of the federal government.

Today, things are different thanks to the introduction of Senate Bill 990, a piece of state legislation that would block the use of the land for residential housing unless the site is cleaned according to the highest standards of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Introduced in February by state Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), chair of the Senate Health Committee and the Select Committee on the Health Effects of Radioactive and Chemical Contamination, the bill was written in response to the upcoming transfer of the land from the Department of Energy to Boeing, a transfer which is scheduled to occur after the DOE completes its cleanup of the site sometime in the next fiscal year.

Looking at it from any angle, Kuehl's legislation makes good sense for Simi Valley's residents both today and tomorrow. The DOE says its site cleanup meets state and federal standards and will be fully protective of humans and the environment, but the EPA's "Superfund" standards are higher, and in the case of the contaminated field lab, more appropriate.

Why take chances when it comes to human life? For the sake of Boeing's corporate profits? Let's hope not.

We all know the possible consequences of exposure to the radioactive contaminants that have long been detected in the soil at the field lab, that's why it's important to take steps now to protect our children's children.

The time has come for the Simi Valley City Council, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors- and in particular, 4th District Supervisor Peter Foy- to get behind SB 990.

Silence on this matter- like DOE's cleanup- is not acceptable.