NUKE WASTE DUMPED RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL GOING TO CALABASAS, SUNSHINE CANYON LANDFILLS.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

Low-level radioactive waste from Rocketdyne's Santa Susana Field Laboratory has been dumped for decades at the Sunshine Canyon and Calabasas landfills and is still being dumped at them, officials said Thursday.

The disclosure was contained in a letter from the Department of Energy to U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, who called for an immediate halt to the dumping. Previously, federal officials have admitted shipping some 6,000 tons of low-level radioactive waste to the now-closed Bradley Landfill in Sun Valley.

The mayors of Calabasas and Los Angeles expressed outrage upon learning of the practice, which was done with the approval of federal and state officials.

``This practice is irresponsible and it must end,'' said Boxer, D-Calif. ``These landfills, often situated near neighborhoods and without sophisticated monitoring systems, are not suitable disposal sites for radioactive materials.

``I call on the Department of Energy to immediately cease these shipments. Radioactive waste collected from highly contaminated sites must not be handled like the trash collected from our kitchens.''

Boxer said she learned only last week that Sunshine Canyon and Calabasas landfills were being used for the waste although the DOE sent the letter June 28 - it apparently got lost in the mail.

In it, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said that waste from the laboratory's Energy Technology Engineering Center - the site of nuclear development and testing - has been shipped to local landfills if the level of radioactivity fell below 15 millirems for soil and less than 1 millirem for debris.

``For these wastes, the level of radioactivity is so low, the equivalent of about two chest X-rays, that disposal in these types of landfills is protective of public health and the environment,'' Abraham wrote.

Soil and debris with higher levels of radioactivity are sent to waste disposal facilities at the DOE's Hanford site in Washington or the Nevada Test Site, he wrote.

Calabasas Mayor Lesley Devine said she was shocked by the news and scoffed at the notion of ``low-level radioactive material.''

``I'm not sure I want all my neighbors to have two X-rays every day - certainly, not our children,'' she said.

Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn also was outraged by the disclosure.

``This is one of the reasons why he thinks we should shut down all the landfills within the city limits,'' said his spokeswoman, Julie Wong.

Mike Lopez, DOE restoration project manager at the Santa Susana lab, said the agency is not required to keep records of material that falls below the federal standards, so officials aren't sure how much or when the waste was shipped to Calabasas, Sunshine Canyon and Bradley landfills.

``We didn't send any radioactive waste to sanitary landfills,'' Lopez said. ``This is a whole different kind of waste from demolition of various facilities. Not all of the facilities were radioactively contaminated. It's mostly building debris and regular office garbage.

Steve Lafflam, division director for safety, health and environmental affairs at the Rocketdyne division of the Boeing Co., said trash, soil and debris from the site - within federal limits for radioactivity - has been shipped to the landfills since the 1950s.

``It has been approved by the state Health Department and meets all the requirements,'' Lafflam said.

``No radiological material has left our grounds and gone to these landfills. The people living around these facilities should be assured that nothing has gone from our facilities that would impact public health.''

But Daniel Hirsch, president of the nuclear watchdog group the Committee to Bridge the Gap, said a Superior Court judge has ruled that radioactive waste from decommissioned nuclear facilities cannot be disposed of at ordinary landfills.

Hal Morgenstern, a professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles, said that compliance with radiation standards does not necessarily mean there are no health risks.

He was part of the UCLA team that conducted health studies of Rocketdyne workers and found those exposed to ionizing radiation died from cancer at three times the rate of workers who were never exposed to radiation.

``We are talking about workers exposed occupationally to doses that are well within state guidelines,'' Morgenstern said.

The Rocketdyne site was used since the 1950s by the federal government to test nuclear reactors and rocket engines. Residents and former workers at the site are concerned that chemical and radioactive contamination threatens neighboring communities.

The site in the hills between Chatsworth and Simi Hills conducted nuclear energy research for decades before those operations were shut down in the late 1980s. A federally funded cleanup is under way.

Boxer recently met with local residents, many of whom believe that their medical problems are caused by exposure to the site.

Mary Edwards, spokeswoman for the North Valley Coalition, which has fought dumping at the Sunshine Canyon Landfill, said the conditional-use permit for the landfill prohibits the dumping of radioactive material.

``It's a clear violation of the CUP,'' Edwards said. ``How can people believe they are going to be protected under these rules and regulations when they are so flagrantly ignored? It justifies people's unease and skepticism.''

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Map:

Rocketdyne Santa Susana Field Laboratory

Calabasas Landfill

Sunshine Canyon Landfill

Bradley Landfill