The Santa Susana Field Lab, located in the hills above Simi Valley is home to one of the largest nuclear accidents in U.S. history with multiple other nuclear accidents occurring throughout the years of operation. Following tens of thousands of rocket engine tests the site was also contaminated with hundreds of toxic chemicals, some of which have no safe level of exposure.
Alarmingly, the site remains contaminated to this day despite the legally mandated cleanup agreements signed in 2007 and 2010 which required a full cleanup by 2017.
Currently, the Boeing Company, which owns most of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, is in the process of demolishing five buildings formerly used for Cold War era nuclear research, including a plutonium fuel facility,
which experienced three radioactive accidents. This action currently underway represents a clear and present danger to the public’s health.
Because of a 2023 legal victory, Boeing is demolishing the decommissioned buildings without regulatory oversight as “abandoned warehouses.” This misrepresentation and legal victory are based on problematic studies done in the 1980s using now outdated regulations from the 1970s. They are conveniently disregarding the internationally accepted BEIR 7 study from 2006 that confirms there is no safe level of radiation exposure above background, and that any excess exposure above background causes an increased risk of cancer and other health-related issues.
If this were to be carried out in a health setting, it would be considered gross negligence and medical malpractice. Without oversight monitoring, the demolition process from start to finish has the potential to aerosolize dangerous contaminants into the surrounding communities impacting workers in the demolition process plus those along the transportation routes to the planned waste disposal sites. Further, the court ruling may allow Boeing to send thousands of tons of low-level radioactive waste to recycling centers and less protective, and less expensive California landfills.
Parents Against Santa Susana Field Lab (PASSFL) have expressed their concerns that Boeing’s Standard Operating Procedures during the demolition will not adequately protect the public.
“Boeing should prove to us that plutonium-239 and other toxins won’t get into our environment during the demolition and disposal,” said Melissa Bumstead, Parents Against SSFL founder and Co-Director, whose daughter is a two-time cancer survivor. “Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s safe.”
To ensure the safety of the community, a stay order or injunction regarding this demolition should happen until it is confirmed that Boeing can document, using current scientific expertise and accepted exposure limits, that there is no risk in any part of the demolition and waste removal process. The burden of proof lies directly with Boeing and the state Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), whose responsibility it is to regulate the cleanup.
Dr. Robert Dodge is a retired family physician and a board member for the Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles. Lawrence Yee is the former Chair of LA Regional Water Quality Control board.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Building demolition at field lab is danger to public health | Your Turn
