End of argument: field lab must be cleaned to meet highest standard
Accord reached without adding site to Superfund National Priorities List
By Darleen Principe darleen@theacorn.com

After more than a decade of debate over decontamination of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, a former rocket engine and nuclear reactor test site in the hills south of Simi, it appears that an agreement is near.

State officials agreed this week that recent legislation detailing that strict cleanup standards for the field lab will stay in place- a response to the United States Environmental Protection Agency's request to place the site on the Superfund National Priorities List.

According to Senate Bill 990, which was signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in October, the site will be cleaned to meet the highest standards of the U.S. EPA and will be overseen by the Department of Toxic Substances Control.

Linda Adams, secretary for environmental protection with the California EPA, said Tuesday that the state has asked the federal EPA to wait six months before making a final decision about proposing Superfund listing for the land.

"Recent state actions, we think, create an unprecedented opportunity to achieve an expedited cleanup of the site," Adams said. "It is the intent of the administration that SB 990 remain in effect . . . and that the standards in 990 be the standards used in the cleanup process."

Last month, the U.S. EPA's request for Superfund designation marked the first time a federal agency had gone on the record stating that the lab- the site of the worst nuclear meltdown in American history- required decontamination to meet the strictest standards. The governor had until Tuesday to respond to the federal request.

But because of recent state actions such as the enactment of SB 990, state officials want an extra six months to negotiate a formal cleanup agreement with Boeing- which in a letter of intent agreed to pay for the decontamination and promised to transfer its portion of the property to the state for parkland after the process was complete.

Adams said that reaching such an agreement could help the state avoid having to add several years to the cleanup process, which would happen if the lab was added to the National Priorities List.

"We don't think that an NPL listing would be advantageous at this point," Adams said. "We think it's very important to partner with the (federal) EPA, but at this point we are still having discussions with the public, various environmental groups and elected officials."

Critics reassured

Besides requesting a delay, state officials have agreed to relieve the bill's sponsor, state Sen. Sheila James Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), of her prior commitment to introduce an amendment in the next legislative season that would have weakened the cleanup standards and taken the oversight authority away from the DTSC.

Originally, the governor agreed to sign SB 990 into law only if Kuehl agreed to introduce the amendment, in the belief that doing so would expedite Boeing's transfer of the land to the state.

But as part of this week's agreement that decision was reversed. And prior critics, such as Dan Hirsch of the nuclear watchdog Committee to Bridge the Gap, consider it a victory.

"The governor is to be commended for taking this strong action," Hirsch said. "We will now at last have this site cleaned up to the strictest standards and finally put at ease those people who live nearby."

James Birkelund of the National Resources Defense Council expressed agreement.

"The administration embraced the community's concerns with actions to ensure the standards of SB 990 remain in place," Birkelund said. "With these commitments, reevaluating the proposal for Superfund listing in six months is both responsible and the best approach to protecting public health."

The site's future

In a Jan. 15 letter to Wayne Nastri, regional administrator of the U.S. EPA, Adams, on behalf of the governor, detailed the state's response and requested the federal agency act as a partner to the state for "effective and expedited" cleanup.

The governor asked that the U.S. EPA, rather than the Department of Energy, take the lead role in conducting a radiological site survey of the lab site based on the standards in SB 990 and provide technical support through the agency's Radiation and Indoor Environments National Laboratory in Las Vegas.

"(Nastri) is fine with everything we're proposing," Adams said. "He wants to make sure (California) EPA has the resources they need to conduct the very expensive site survey."

Adams estimates the survey would cost around $10 million, but was not certain about the price of a total cleanup. Boeing has already agreed to pay $750,000 a year for 30 years- or $22.5 million- to fund the transfer to the state and maintain the land in the future.

Norm Riley, field lab project director with the DTSC, estimates that the cleanup could be completed by 2017.