RADIOACTIVE SOIL FROM ROCKETDYNE AWAITS DISPOSAL.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY - Contaminated soil from one of the most polluted sites at Rocketdyne's Santa Susana Field Lab sits in hundreds of bins at the hilltop facility, stalled in a debate over where it should be dumped.

The dirt, excavated this summer from the old sodium burn pit, contains traces of radioactive material, in addition to dangerous dioxins, PCBs and mercury. Because of the level of contamination, critics are demanding that the dirt be hauled to a more costly nuclear waste dump rather than a facility for hazardous chemicals.

But state and federal officials say the additional precautions are unnecessary because the radioactive contamination just isn't that severe.

``It never had to be moved for radiation, it only had to be moved for hazardous material,'' said Ed Bailey, DHS's radiologic health chief. ``It could have stayed on-site for the standpoint of radioactive material. They could have moved a farmer in there and he could have grown his crop.''

The delay - which officials say is costing taxpayers $220,000 a month for the rental of 660 storage containers - is expected to be discussed Wednesday during a meeting of the Santa Susana Field Lab Workgroup. The panel monitors the toxic cleanup of the lab, where rocket testing and nuclear energy research was conducted for decades.

The group is also scheduled to discuss a survey that is being conducted to determine how much chemical contamination remains at the 2,700-acre field lab and how it should be cleaned up.

``It's an opportunity for people to see how the rest of the cleanup will work,'' said the EPA's Tom Kelly.

The Dumpster-size containers - nearly all that are available in Southern California, officials said - are being used to store contaminated dirt that left a 14-foot deep hole across one acre at the lab.

Plans to trek the dirt through the San Fernando Valley and to the Kettleman hazardous-waste landfill outside Fresno have been on hold since June, when a debate erupted over whether that was the appropriate site.

Activists say dirt with even traces of radioactivity must be sent to facilities in Utah or Washington, where there is equipment to safely store the material.

``I just don't think it's appropriate for people to say it's OK to break the law and to expose people to (the equivalent of) a half-dozen X-rays over their lifetime just to save a company some money,'' said Dan Hirsch, a member of the work group and the anti-nuclear group Committee to Bridge the Gap.

Officials said it would cost millions of dollars more to ship the soil to a nuclear waste dump rather than to Kettleman, although they could not provide specific figures for either option.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., has submitted a list of questions about disposal issues to the state and federal regulatory agencies in what is becoming a broader policy debate.

``Sen. Boxer is extremely concerned about the disposal of radioactive waste at landfills not specially licensed to receive it,'' a spokesman for the senator said.

But the state Department of Health Services, which signs off on nuclear cleanups, said the radioactive contamination is no worse than background levels routinely found in Simi Valley.

The Energy Department, which will give the final green light, said it is holding the soil until the questions surrounding its release - including those from Boxer - are resolved.

``It's not going anywhere until we feel comfortable we've satisfied our constituents,'' said Roger Liddle, DOE's deputy assistant manager for environmental management.

Along with dangerous dioxins, PCBs and mercury that could be harmful if ingested orally - contamination that came from decades of washing down mechanical parts, some from a nuclear reactor in the pit - the dirt has traces of uranium, cesium, strontium and potassium, those involved said.

The pit has already undergone various cleanups, including a $16 million radiological cleanup.

Boeing officials support sending the waste to a non-nuclear facility, a spokesman said, as do those from the state overseeing the project.

``We'd like to see this soil shipped off . . . as soon as possible,'' said Gerard Abrams, project manager for the state Department of Toxic Substances Control, which recommends sending the dirt to Kettleman as originally planned.

Meanwhile, the nooks and crannies of the field lab's bedrock have been swept to remove trace amounts of soil, and the burn pit is prepared for a clay cap that will seal it as part of an interim measure for cleaning up the site.

The field lab is undergoing a federal cleanup after chemical and some nuclear contamination was found. A pair of worker health studies conducted by the University of California, Los Angeles, found higher cancer mortality rates among workers exposed to certain chemicals and radiation.

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Photo: (color in Conejo and Simi editions only) About 700 Dumpster-size containers filled with dirt excavated from Rocketdyne's Santa Susana Field Lab remain on the plant's premises as means for proper disposal of the contaminated soil is debated.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News