BOEING SEEKS TO LOOSEN RESTRICTIONS NEIGHBORS, ACTIVISTS WANT BOARD TO CRACK DOWN ON LAB.

Byline: KERRY CAVANAUGH Staff Writer

Facing potential prosecution by the U.S. Attorney's Office and multiple fines from local water authorities, the Boeing Co. will try today to persuade state water regulators to loosen tough pollution rules governing the Santa Susana Field Lab.

In the closely watched case before the State Water Resources Control Board in Sacramento, Boeing is arguing that its permit is too strict and it could not comply until 2009. However, neighbors and activists are pushing state authorities to uphold the strong environmental protections.

In a letter to the water board, Rocketdyne Cleanup Coalition member Marie Mason said residents living at the base of Simi Hills hope regulators will crack down on the lab.

``Remember that you are supposed to be protecting the public, not the polluter,'' Mason wrote.

The controversy involves Boeing's surface-water permit, which limits the amount of pollution that can be in rain and industrial water that runs off the 2,800-acre hilltop lab.

The water flows into neighboring creeks that eventually drain into the Los Angeles River and Arroyo Simi.

Used for rocket-engine testing and nuclear research since the 1940s, the lab has extensive contamination in the soil and groundwater, prompting concern that heavy metal and chemicals could flow off site in surface water.

In 2004, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board adopted stricter limits on pollutants flowing downhill.

Between July 2004 and May 2006, the lab violated the permit 132 times, with higher than allowed levels of mercury, dioxins and other contaminants.

Boeing has said many of those violations were from naturally occurring levels of heavy metals and chemicals in the soil, as well as ash from a wildfire.

The company is trying to prevent other violations on a large, hilly site.

``Compliance is our objective,'' said Boeing spokeswoman Blythe Jameson. ``Immediate compliance is not possible with the current permit.''

But the dozens of violations prompted a federal investigation. In November 2005, the U.S. Attorney's Office served Boeing a grand jury subpoena seeking the company's water-permit records.

Since then, the U.S. Attorney's Office has said Boeing violated the federal Clean Water Act, according to a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing by Boeing.

The U.S. Attorney's Office wouldn't comment on its investigation, but Boeing's filing said the company ``intend(s) to engage in discussions with the U.S. Attorney's Office regarding the basis for our belief that no criminal violations of the Act occurred, and that, even if violations had occurred, prosecution would be inappropriate.''

The state board's decision may not affect the federal investigation of previous field lab violations. But the Ventura County District Attorney's Office has postponed investigating the field lab water violations until the state water board decides whether to uphold or change the Boeing permit.

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com

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