EDITORIAL SANTA SUSANA'S LEGACY GOVERNMENT AND CORPORATE SECRECY AND DENIAL HAVE PLAGUED CLEANUP.IT should not have taken 18 years for government and corporate officials to begin to take seriously the environmental problems at the Santa Susana Santa Susana can refer to several places:
In 1989, the Daily News exposed that serious toxic contamination had occurred at the site during decades of nuclear and rocket research. But the secrecy and denials by corporate and government officials have continued over the years, hampering efforts by nearby residents and former workers to find out the extent of problems and possible dangers to their health. This week -- as officials of Boeing Co., which inherited inherited received by inheritance. inherited achondroplastic dwarfism see achondroplastic dwarfism. inherited combined immunodeficiency see combined immune deficiency syndrome (disease). the site from Rocketdyne, were celebrating a spectacular quarterly profit of $1.1 billion and a record high in their stock price -- a small measure of environmental justice occurred. The company was hit with a fine of $471,190 by the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Water Quality Control Board for allowing excessive levels of lead, mercury and other toxins from the field lab site into the exclusive West Valley community of Bell Canyon and the Los Angeles River The Los Angeles River is an intermittent river flowing through Los Angeles County, California, from Canoga Park in the west end of the San Fernando Valley, 51 miles (82 km) southeast to its mouth in Long Beach. . In all, 79 water-quality violations were cited. These violations did not occur in the decades under the careless careless adj., adv. 1) negligent. 2) the opposite of careful. A careless act can result in liability for damages to others. (See: negligent, negligence, care) command of the site's former owners who, with the help of federal government officials, concealed con·ceal tr.v. con·cealed, con·ceal·ing, con·ceals To keep from being seen, found, observed, or discovered; hide. See Synonyms at hide1. numerous violations, including a nuclear reactor meltdown meltdown Occurrence in which a huge amount of thermal energy and radiation is released as a result of an uncontrolled chain reaction in a nuclear power reactor. The chain reaction that occurs in the reactor's core must be carefully regulated by control rods, which absorb that could have threatened the lives of thousands of San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. residents. No, these violations occurred on Boeing's watch between October 2004 and January 2006. Of course, a half-million-dollar fine is unlikely to break the bank at Boeing or cause any executives to lose their lucrative stock options, or even feel any shame. Indeed, a far worse price has been paid by nearby residents and former field lab workers who have fought the company and the U.S. Department of Energy for years just to get basic information that might have linked their illnesses to what has gone on at Santa Susana. It shouldn't have taken 18 years for the wheels of justice to start turning. But it has. Last week, a judge forced the halt of an incomplete cleanup of the site so that it could get a full environmental study. And California's two U.S. senators are pushing legislation to get payouts for lab workers who were sickened from being exposed to toxins. We can't allow another 18 years to go by before the full extent of contamination at the former Rocketdyne lab is disclosed and to get it cleaned up properly. |
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