Rick Perry ended his tenure as U.S. secretary of energy on Sunday, but not before issuing a press release highlighting the progress of cleanup at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) in Ventura County, Calif.
“I am proud of the work the Department of Energy (DOE) has done to advance the final cleanup of the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC) site at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in California,” Perry said in the Dec. 1 release. In September, Perry said he became the first energy secretary to visit the site, “to see first-hand the progress that has been made and the remaining cleanup challenges to be tackled.”
An advocacy group in Los Angeles said Perry’s goal was to blunt the effect the attention television personality Kim Kardashian was drawing to the Santa Susana contamination through her program Sunday night on the E! network.
The SSFL is a former rocket engine test and nuclear research facility used by Boeing, NASA, and DOE. The Energy Department has overseen safe demolition of more than 250 buildings on its 470-acre portion of the 2,850-acre site, Perry said.
Following Perry’s visit in September, the Energy Department in October released a record of decision formalizing its intent to tear down the remaining 18 structures it owns at ETEC. The California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) and the state Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) subsequently said the federal agency needs state approval before it can proceed with demolition.
The Energy Department released the statement on Sunday because it heard the Kardashian program was going to address SSFL contamination, Denise Duffield, associate director of Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles, said by email.
The Perry statement offers nothing new, “DOE’s usual SSFL spin,” Duffield said. She added: “I guess they are afraid of the Kardashians? Or the attention that may come from the show?”
“The Santa Susana Field Lab story is so sad,” Kardashian said via Twitter on Sunday, alluding to a possible link between contamination at the site and illnesses suffered by nearby residents. Kardashian said she has met with “these cancer survivor moms [near SSFL] and it’s heart breaking.”
During the show, Kardashian met with residents living within 20 miles of the site who have family members diagnosed with cancer and suspect that SSFL contamination is to blame. State Sen. Henry Stern (D), who represents part of the Santa Susana area, also met with the families.
Perry, a former Texas governor, announced his resignation in October. His deputy, Dan Brouillette, was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in as the 15th secretary of energy this week.
The California Department of Toxic Substances Control has still not issued a final version of its cleanup road map for the site, the program management plan (PMP). The agency’s website indicates it is reviewing comments received on the document since the draft was issued in September 2017.
The PMP is supposed to detail what has to be done across the full site and how it should be carried out. The plan is also designed to help the state and the responsible parties for cleanup coordinate their efforts.
