The state agency that oversees the cleanup of the contaminated Santa Susana Field Lab will host a series of workshops starting on Tuesday, March 12, where residents from the San Fernando and Simi valleys can learn about the conditions of the field’s groundwater near their communities.
The “lab” stretches across 2,850 acres at the border of the San Fernando and Simi valleys where rocket engine testing and nuclear research took place for decades during the Cold War, polluting the land’s soil and groundwater.
Now, the Boeing Company, NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy, who own the site, are partnering with the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, or DTSC, to host the “Groundwater U” workshop to inform the public about the status of the cleanup.
The entrance to the Boeing, Santa Susana Field Lab, high in the hills separating Simi Valley and the San Fernando Valley on Monday, May 9, 2022. (Photo by Dean Musgrove, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
“The goal of this public workshop series is to discuss groundwater at SSFL to prepare the public to review and comment on future groundwater cleanup plans (decision documents) during the associated comment periods,” wrote Elizabeth Leslie Gassaway, a spokesperson with the state Department of Toxic Substances Control, in an email.
Recently, Boeing announced it would begin removing radioactive soil from the site’s highly contaminated area known as the “burn pit” and would haul away the soil with vehicles using residential streets to a waste disposal facility.
That announcement sparked criticism from environmentalists who said the cleanup would keep a large amount of contamination in place.
An online meeting will be hosted on Tuesday March 12 at 6 p.m. at which residents will learn about groundwater cleanup.
An onsite visit of the site, which is owned by Boeing, will be held on April 6 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Details of the tour can be found here.