The California Department of Toxic Substances Control is “making every effort” to publish the final versions of two long-awaited environmental reports for cleanup of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in this summer, a spokesman said this month.
The state agency oversees remediation of the 2,800-acre site in Ventura County, about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, by NASA, Boeing, and the U.S. Department of Energy.
The state received plenty of feedback on the drafts of the Program Management Plan (PMP) and the Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) after they were issued in September 2017. The final PMP will provide a road map to remediate the sprawling property once used for rocket testing and nuclear research. The PEIR will analyze potential environmental effects caused by remediation of soil and groundwater at the site.
The final version of each report will address the submitted comments and comply fully with an administrative order of consent (AOC) between the state and federal agencies on SSFL, DTSC spokesman Russ Edmondson said in a Jan. 7 email. The current timeline calls for getting the reports, initially expected last year, out this summer, he added.
Meanwhile, the state has still not received an Energy Department reply to an Oct. 16, 2019, letter from DTSC Director Meredith Williams seeking a copy of a formal demolition plan for 18 buildings remaining within the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC) at Santa Susana, the state spokesman said.
Williams said DTSC and the California Environmental Protection Agency are worried about DOE’s statement in a September record of decision that building demolition could start within weeks. California officials said they would first have to sign off on detailed plans for teardown. The letter sought a reply by Oct. 21, 2019.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported Jan. 17 the state toxics agency also opposes NASA’s cleanup plan for its portion of the Santa Susana site.
