EDITORIAL : POOR PLANNING; IN 10 YEARS, STATE AND FEDERAL OFFICIALS FAILED TO FIND A PERMANENT SOLUTION TO THE CONTAMINATION AT SANTA SUSANA FIELD LAB. WHY?AN interim solution. That's what a state Department of Toxic Substances Control official termed the plan to protect residents from radioactive runoff Runoff The procedure of printing the end-of-day prices for every stock on an exchange onto ticker tape. Notes: If the "tape is late" then it can take a long time to print off all the closing prices. in the soil at Rocketdyne's Santa Susana Santa Susana can refer to several places:
State and federal officials supposedly have been dealing with Rocketdyne since the Daily News disclosed 10 years ago that nuclear experiments and rocket research in the mountains near Chatsworth left dangerous, life-threatening residue in the dirt - 10 years and they've just now come up with a temporary solution. What bunk bunk, bunker large storage bin. bunk forage forage, usually ensilage stored in a large storage bunk and made available to cattle or other livestock along a face of the storage. ! Neighbors of the lab, which is now owned by Rocketdyne's new parent, Seattle-based Boeing Corp., are right to scream bloody murder over the plan to use plants and clay to protect them from rainwater streaming down the mountainside. They point to a 1997 state report that recommends an impermeable impermeable /im·per·me·a·ble/ (-per´me-ah-b'l) not permitting passage, as of fluid. im·per·me·a·ble adj. Impossible to permeate; not permitting passage. , plastic tarp to seal the poisoned ground after the dirt laced with cancer-causing dioxins and PCBs is hauled away. With experts telling the state that the chemicals are in all likelihood lodged in the bedrock at the site - meaning it rain can seep deep into the earth to the underlayer, pick up the chemicals and carry them into groundwater systems - wouldn't it be prudent to do everything possible to prevent that from happening? ``The vegetation is very effective,`` said Gerard Abrams, a DTSC DTSC Department of Toxic Substances Control DTSC DARCOM Technical Steering Committee project manager. But not 100 percent effective. Plants and other vegetation may act like sponges and soak up rainfall but sponges can become saturated and no longer hold water. Any chance that rain can reach the contaminated contaminated, v 1. made radioactive by the addition of small quantities of radioactive material. 2. made contaminated by adding infective or radiographic materials. 3. an infective surface or object. bedrock or soil is a chance not worth taking. There is still time before the soil is hauled out of the field lab next month for state and federal officials to discuss the situation with residents, and use their collective knowledge of the site and science to determine if a leak-proof sealing mechanism can be installed. With 10 years to work on this, it's deplorable de·plor·a·ble adj. 1. Worthy of severe condemnation or reproach: a deplorable act of violence. 2. and irresponsible that a permanent solution could not be found. |
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