BOEING CONTESTS WATER RULE.

Byline: ERIC LEACH Staff Writer

The Boeing Co. has filed a lawsuit challenging pollution limits set by the state for storm water that flows from its Santa Susana Field Lab into the Los Angeles River and the Arroyo Simi.

Boeing asked the state Water Resources Control Board last month to reconsider the limits, which company officials maintain are illegal, according to the suit.

Because water board officials said they could not hear the case until at least May, Boeing filed the petition Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court to protect its options, spokeswoman Blythe Jameson said.

``We are working with the regional board to develop a compliance plan for storm-water discharges and a realistic schedule for implementing those limits,'' Jameson said. ``Boeing contends many of the permit limits are not appropriate for storm-water discharges.''

William Rukeyser, a board spokesman, said the agency's decision had been carefully researched.

``We're totally confident any challenges will be unsuccessful,'' he said. ``We're proud of the role the state water board plays in protecting human health and we recognize the importance of the successful Santa Susana cleanup to the people in the area and the environment of California.''

Located in the hills between the San Fernando and Simi valleys, the Santa Susana Field Lab was used for decades for rocket-engine testing and nuclear research. Cleanup operations of nuclear and chemical contamination are under way.

The state issued Boeing a water quality permit in 2004, and tightened restrictions in 2006.

State officials said the lab had violated provisions of the 2004 permit more than 100 times, with higher-than-allowed levels of mercury, dioxins and other contaminants.

But Boeing said many of those violations were from naturally occurring levels of heavy metals and chemicals in the soil, as well as residue from the 2005 Topanga Fire that burned more than two-thirds of the 2,800-acre hilltop site.

Jameson said to prevent runoff from the fire residue alone, Boeing has spent more than $1 million to remove 900 tons of ash and install barriers to prevent sediment from running off the site.

eric.leach(at)dailynews.com

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