Toxics department officials this week defended their oversight of cleanup activities by the Boeing Co. at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory and disputed allegations by environmentalists in a new lawsuit that the agency is allowing illegal disposal of radioactive waste.
After regulators failed to meet a 24 hour deadline set by public interest groups to stop Boeing from demolishing and disposing of radioactive waste at facilities not licensed to accept radioactive waste and at recycling plants
SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — Several environmental groups on Tuesday sued state regulators over the cleanup of a former nuclear research lab, saying low-level radioactive waste was improperly shipped to landfills.
SANTA MONICA, CA –State regulators at the troubled Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) and the Department of Public Health (DPH) are quietly allowing Boeing to demolish all of...
The nonprofit Consumer Watchdog group Monday accused the state of allowing Boeing to demolish radiation-contaminated structures at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory and dispose of the debris at sites not licensed to receive radioactive waste.
The group said it uncovered the practice at the field lab in the hills outside Simi Valley, the site of a partial nuclear meltdown in 1959.
Two state regulator agencies were accused Monday of placing the public's health at risk by allowing the Boeing Co. to demolish an old plutonium fabrication building on the Santa Susana Field Laboratory site and then planning to dispose the debris at an unlicensed dump in Kern County.
A coalition of environmental groups accused state regulators Monday of allowing low-level radioactive waste from the former Santa Susana Field Laboratory to be illegally disposed of in landfills not licensed to receive such material.
Consumer Watchdog, the Center for Race Poverty and the Environment, and others said debris from six structures from the former nuclear research facility already had been delivered to municipal landfills and metal and concrete recyclers.
Watchdog groups have accused Boeing Corporation of sending radioactive waste from the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in Ventura County to landfills that aren’t certified to handle it – and they allege that the state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control has condoned the practice.
The groups said the waste is going to city landfills in Lancaster and Azuza, and recycling plants in Simi Valley, Sun Valley, and Ventura, creating an imminent health threat for people in the surrounding neighborhoods.
An internal audit has concluded that NASA committed to an excessive and unnecessary cleanup of its portion of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory and a less expensive and invasive plan should be considered.
The audit, released recently by NASA's Office of Inspector General, estimated that cleaning up the agency's portion of the property would cost $200 million.
