The Department of Energy, NASA, and Boeing are wrestling with missed deadlines and expectations for the massive cleanup of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in California, which was supposed to be well underway this year but remains largely in the planning stages.
The state of California is still taking comments on two key documents for remediation at the chemically and radioactively contaminated 2,850-acre site in Ventura County. Interested parties have until Oct. 23 to submit comments by email, mail, or fax on the state’s draft program environmental impact report (PEIR) and draft program management plan.
While Boeing owns most of the property, DOE and NASA are also responsible for cleanup of different segments of the facility used for decades in research and development of rocket engines, nuclear energy systems, and other technologies. For DOE that is Area IV and the Northern Buffer Zone, totaling 472 acres.
A 2007 consent order obligates the three parties to finish cleanup of chemically contaminated soil by June 30, 2017, and to finish building groundwater and soil remediation remedies by that date for two Santa Susana operational units. Under a separate 2010 administrative consent order with California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), DOE is required wrap up soil work at the former Energy Technology Engineering Center this year.
However, the 2010 order directs both the state and federal agencies to first complete respective environmental studies before any remediation occurs; neither evaluation is complete.
In a June 29 letter to DTSC Director Barbara Lee, acting DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regulatory and Policy Affairs Mark Gilbertston said “DOE is unable to meet the 2017 cleanup expectations as described” in the 2010 consent order. The department appeared to be slightly ahead of the state in the environmental assessment process – as of June it was reviewing public input on the EM’s draft final environmental impact statement, which would be used in formulating the final document and record of decision for DOE cleanup at Santa Susana.
Gilbertson said DOE wanted a meeting with the state agency “to begin discussions on schedules, as well as other appropriate matters that would facilitate completion of the soils and groundwater cleanup activities.” The Energy Department is awaiting a response from DTSC, a spokesperson said.
“The departure from the 2017 schedule presented in the Consent Order and referred to in the AOCs is due to the recognized complexity of the project, including the rugged physical nature of the site, multiple responsible parties, and the need to complete several phases of investigation to define the nature and extent of impacted soils,” DTSC spokesman Russ Edmondson said by email Thursday.
The DTSC hopes to complete its preliminary environmental impact report early next year, and to receive preliminary cleanup planning documents in 2018, Edmondson said. Remediation operations would follow in 2019; based on that schedule, all chemically and radiologically contaminated soil should be dealt with by the close of 2034.
The Energy Department, NASA, and Boeing are all still assessing the methods and equipment needed for cleanup while they determine the type and scope of contamination, the state said this month in the draft PEIR, which studies possible effects from the planned cleanup projects as laid out in the 2007 and 2010 consent orders.
A broad scope of remediation activities is anticipated across the laboratory site, the state said. These include excavation and off-site disposal of 2.5 million cubic yards of soil, with DOE responsible for 1.26 million cubic yards; other treatment methods for nearly 700,000 additional cubic yards of soil; groundwater extraction and treatment; and decommissioning of monitoring wells and water supply wells.
“It is assumed that various activities addressed in the PEIR, including building removal and soil excavation and disposal activities would begin within approximately 30 days of DTSC’s decision on the Final PEIR, and all of the activities would be completed in 10 to 15 years by a workforce of as many as 250 employees,” the state’s draft environmental report says.
The Energy Department, in its draft environmental impact statement for Area IV and the Northern Buffer, projected the cost of soil remediation at $100 million to $1.6 billion, based on the cleanup option that is eventually selected. Building removal would add another $15.3 million to the price tag, while there is not yet a cost estimate for groundwater remediation, the DOE spokesperson said.
Boeing took heat in August when it notified stakeholders that it planned to shift the remediation standard for its portion of the site from residential cleanup to the less-stringent recreational land use, according to news reports last month.
The aerospace giant in April recorded a conservation easement intended to preserve close to 2,400 acres at Santa Susana as an undeveloped open space habitat, Boeing spokeswoman Megan Hilfer said by email Thursday.
“We are committed to performing a cleanup that is fully protective of human health and the environment, consistent with the land’s future use as open space habitat,” she stated. “In light of the conservation easement, we recently updated the work plan that outlines our approach for assessing risk and evaluating exposure. Our revision is compliant with the 2007 Consent Order, which identifies future land use as an important factor in choosing a remedy,” Hilfer added.
In its latest update on cleanup of its designated area of the laboratory site, issued in June, NASA said it expects by the end of this year to complete the second phase of demolition of disused facilities. The third phase of demolition – covering the Alfa, Bravo, and Coca test areas – will pave the way for remediation activities laid out under the 2010 administrative consent order, the space agency said.
