DOE INVITES AGENCY INPUT ON LAB CLEANUP PUBLIC AND REGULATORS PART OF BROADER CONSULTATIONS.

Byline: KERRY CAVANAUGH

Staff Writer

A decade into the cleanup of radioactive contamination at the Santa Susana Field Lab, the Department of Energy has begun consulting with state and federal environmental regulators on decontamination of the site's last buildings.

And surprising longtime watchdogs, the agency has asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to weigh in on demolition of two buildings in the former nuclear energy research facility.

The two federal agencies have publicly clashed over cleanup standards at the lab, with the EPA saying four years ago that the Energy Department's plan would leave the lab unsafe for anything but limited picnicking and camping.

Environmental groups have a pending lawsuit over the cleanup, saying the Energy Department ignored its own pledge to follow EPA guidance and will leave hazardous radiation on the site.

But Energy Department officials said Thursday that they've adopted a new policy that calls for more input from the public and environmental regulators.

"The environmental management program at DOE has become more mature," Energy Department spokesman William Taylor said. "Even if there is not a clear line of jurisdiction, why not bring them in anyhow? We welcome the comments so nobody can stand up in a meeting and say we weren't consulted on this."

But Dan Hirsch with the Committee to Bridge the Gap was skeptical about the Energy Department's change.

"Are they going through the motions of complying with (EPA guidance) but doing so only for the last two buildings while the entire rest of the site has been in violation?"

Located in the hills above Simi Valley and Chatsworth, the Santa Susana Field Lab was developed in the late 1940s for rocket-engine research.

Ninety acres of the site were used by the federal government for nuclear research from 1955 through 1988. There were 10 reactors on the site; one experienced a partial meltdown.

The Energy Department has sole authority for the radiation cleanup and has slowly been decontaminating the site. The government is preparing to finish the cleanup and return the land to lab owner Boeing Co. by early next year.

But controversy remains over cleanup standards and how much radiation will be left on the land.

And one of the biggest disputes has centered on whether the Energy Department has to follow the EPA's cleanup guidance.

In 1995, the two agencies signed an agreement that said the Energy Department would follow EPA guidance. But the EPA contends the DOE has not followed the deal in the Santa Susana Field Lab cleanup.

Instead, the DOE chose the less stringent of two cleanup standards for the property. Under that standard, someone living on the site for 40 years would receive an extra 15 milirem of radiation per year. That would represent a 1-in-3,333 risk of cancer death.

The EPA guidelines suggested a 0.05 milirem goal representing a 1-in-a million cancer death risk.

Energy Department officials are careful to note that while they again are consulting with the EPA, they are not following their original agreement with the agency.

EPA officials said the DOE appears to be following the agreement's policy of cooperation although they still have concerns about the cleanup effort.

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If you go

A public hearing on the DOE cleanup proposal will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Feb. 21 at the Grand Vista Hotel, 999 Enchanted Way, Simi Valley.

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Rocketdyne Santa Susana Field Laboratory

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