GRAND JURY PROBING FIELD LAB.

Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer

Boeing Co. officials revealed Monday that a federal grand jury is investigating the Santa Susana Field Lab and has subpoenaed records monitoring storm-water pollution leaving the site.

Company officials did not provide details, but said a grand jury had demanded documents relating to the locations where storm water and wastewater are discharged from the former nuclear and rocket-testing laboratory, owned by Boeing.

The company monitors the creeks and waterways that drain water from the property in order to detect contamination and prevent it from flowing into the Los Angeles River and Arroyo Simi.

Boeing is cooperating with authorities, spokeswoman Inger Hodgson said.

``In 55 years of operation at the Santa Susana Field Lab, the company has made every effort to comply with existing regulations and has made every effort to cooperate with regulators.''

Officials with the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation would not confirm or deny whether they are the source of the federal inquiry.

The field laboratory has been operating since the 1950s, when it contracted with the U.S. Department of Defense to conduct nuclear research. The company also contracted with NASA and the Department of Defense for research and rocket-engine testing.

The site is now under a federally ordered environmental cleanup, with the U.S. Department of Energy overseeing the nuclear decontamination and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control supervising the chemical cleanup.

Contaminants found in the lab soil and in wastewater ponds on the property include highly toxic dioxins, heavy metals and mercury.

In the past seven years, Boeing has racked up nearly 100 regulation violations for tainted water leaving the site, and the company paid a $39,000 fine in 2002.

Earlier this year, Boeing settled a lawsuit filed by residents of the San Fernando and Simi valleys who say they were sickened by toxics released at Santa Susana - though Boeing denied any harm.

News of the grand jury investigation came as California water regulators crack down on the lab for some 40 violations of its storm-water permit since July 2004.

Last week, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board ordered Boeing to prevent pollutants from getting into the waterways, and the board is preparing another order this week.

Executive Director Jonathan Bishop said the water-quality board gave Boeing two notices of violations this year detailing toxins and heavy metals flowing from the property, but that the company hasn't done enough to fix the problems.

``They are not a normal, run-of-the-mill site, and they are expected to have a very stringent monitoring program,'' Bishop said.

Boeing received a new water permit in 2004, and company officials have complained that limits are extremely strict and sometimes penalize the lab for chemicals found at levels below background concentrations in the area. They also have said wildfires in 2003 dropped ash on the property, and that caused some violations. In addition, Hodgson said, this past winter brought record rainfall and more erosion.

``Generally, our permit exceedances since 2004 have been below drinking-water standards and do not pose a risk to surrounding communities,'' Hodgson said.

Environmental watchdogs said they were glad that water regulators were finally enforcing state law, but were frustrated that Boeing has not been fined or penalized for violating laws meant to protect fish and wildlife along the region's waterways.

``I keep waiting for teeth,'' said Dan Hirsch of the Committee to Bridge the Gap.

``This is a multibillion-dollar company for whom it is much cheaper to violate pollution laws than comply. I'm waiting for regulators to make this significantly more costly so that Boeing will stop polluting its neighbors.''

Kerry Cavanaugh, [phone]

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com