EDITORIAL FULL DISCLOSURE GRAND JURY PROBE MIGHT HAVE BETTER LUCK THAN FINES AT LAB SITE.

IT'S about time we got to the bottom of what is going on at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory.

Nearly 20 years after the Daily News disclosed there was contamination at the former nuclear and rocket-testing laboratory, there are still too many lingering questions about problems at the site.

Large housing developments have been built nearby without anyone knowing for sure if the groundwater or storm runoff from the former lab is safe - or full of harmful toxins.

Now Boeing officials confirm that a federal grand jury has subpoenaed records relating to the monitoring of contamination from the lab and to the locations of runoff on the property.

It's unclear exactly what the grand jury is looking into, but it's sure to find rich reading material.

The site has long been known to have extremely toxic dioxins, mercury and other heavy metals, and there is a history of violations of rules to keep the contaminants out of the environment.

Boeing officials, who are charged with monitoring the site to make sure the contaminants don't seep into the Los Angeles River or Arroyo Simi, have continued to receive violation notices for tainted water - almost 100 in the last seven years.

That's after the former owner of the site, Rockwell Corp., was fined $6.5 million nine years ago when an FBI investigation revealed that two workers were killed trying to dispose of toxic waste by burning it up.

The grand jury scrutiny could be helpful to the community. It's time that there is full exposure of contamination at the Santa Susana lab. Let us hope the grand jury investigation will have better luck at forcing cleanup than the years of fines have had so far.