The Ventura County Board of Supervisors decided this week to allow Boeing Co.’s application for a grading permit to remove toxic soil from a watershed located at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory to move forward as planned.

While the permit is still awaiting approval, it will not be subject to the county’s discretionary review process, which one supervisor had advocated.

On Aug. 4, the board voted 3-2 against Supervisor Linda Parks’ proposal to adopt an urgency ordinance that would have amended the county’s building code to require a discretionary permit process for the field lab instead of simply granting Boeing a ministerial, or “over-the-counter,” permit.

Ministerial permits are for small projects involving less than 10,000 cubic yards of dirt. Although each separate phase of the three-year soil removal process falls under that threshold, Parks argued that when taken together, the entire process would exceed the limit.

“Without the ability to go through the discretionary process, we aren’t able to put any conditions on the project other than the type of conditions you would put on (the digging of) a backyard swimming pool,” Parks said during the twohour hearing.

She said her proposal was prompted by concern for the public’s health and safety, which she felt could be negatively impacted by the soil removal at the field lab if not properly mitigated“Before the first truckload of contaminated soil rolls out of there, we should have plans in place to reduce any potential impact to the public,” she told the Simi Valley Acorn prior to Tuesday’s meeting.

Community advocates and representatives for elected officials also voiced support for the ordinance, and they cautioned against rushing the project since digging up the soil could “mobilize contaminants.”

However, Tom Gallacher, field lab director for Boeing, said Parks’ proposal would “frustrate and significantly delay” compliance with the order handed down from the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board last December to clean up soil from

wo outfalls that have violated water quality discharge limits.

“The urgency ordinance is unnecessary and risks preventing Boeing from implementing the water board’s order before the rainy season,” he said.

While Parks and board chair Steve Bennett favored the county stepping in—despite the delays it would cause—Supervisors Peter Foy, Kathy Long and John Zaragoza voted to keep the project moving.

“We’re only talking 2,700 cubic yards,” said Foy, referencing the amount of soil Boeing plans to remove this year from one outfall. “We should get this done and get it done now.”

Though the water board recently approved the work plan for the soil removal, which will be undertaken by both Boeing and NASA, it is still in the process of reviewing plans for soil management, transportation and health and safety, among others.

Whether the board is finished reviewing the plans or not, Boeing will move forward with removal activities once its grading permit is approved. The company will incorporate in the project any new feedback it receives but it doesn’t expect the comments to radically change the overall work plan, said Boeing spokeswoman Kamara Sams.

In addition, Sams said the work plan already includes sufficient mitigation as it was closely evaluated by the water board and the Department of Toxic Substances Control, the lead agency overseeing the cleanup at the field lab.

“I think the oversight that both of the agencies have provided ensures that the health and safety of the public is protected,” she said.