After years of work, the cleanup at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory site is approaching completion. Remediation of the roughly 2,800 acres is being handled by Chicago aerospace giant Boeing Co., NASA and the Department of Energy. Boeing owns about 2,400 acres of the property, which it acquired in 1996 when it purchased the aerospace and defense units of Rockwell International Corp. NASA owns the remainder. Santa Susana began operations in the late 1940s and was used by various companies and public entities. Most notably, the lab was a rocket engine manufacturing facility for Rocketdyne. Rocket engines used on the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space missions were tested at the site. It also served as a test site for nuclear research, including a test reactor that melted down in 1959. But operations continued, and it served as a rocket engine testing site until 2006. Multiple chemical spills occurred over the decades, and in 1989, an investigation by the Department of Energy found substantial chemical and radioactive contamination. Boeing has installed a groundwater treatment system to control the spread of contaminants, removed or treated more than 74,000 cubic yards of soil, drilled 400 extraction wells and dismantled some 400 structures. All aerospace and energy operations have ceased and visitors can tour the site. Radioactive and chemical contamination is limited to some groundwater, but Boeing maintains it does not pose a risk to the local communities, workers or visitors. Megan Hilfer, environmental communications specialist with Boeing, said cleanup at the Santa Susana site is moving along well, with a completion target date of 2017. “We’re continuing to move forward with the cleanup with the end goal of open space and preserving all the cultural and biological characteristics of the site,” she said. Boeing also has planted more than 900 acres with native plants. Once the cleanup is complete, the company plans to donate the site for what it calls “public benefit,” including maintaining the land as open space for parkland and wildlife habitat. Russ Edmondson, spokesperson for the California Department of Toxic Substance Control or DTSC, added though there is still remaining contamination in certain areas of the site, it should not be an issue for any current development. “While there is contamination on the Santa Susana Field Laboratory property, that will be cleaned up. DTSC is not aware of any current off-site contamination from Santa Susana Field Laboratory that poses a risk to residents or development,” he said in an email. – Elliot Golan
