ROCKETDYNE COMMUNITY TO GET STUDY; NO HEALTH HAZARDS YET PROVEN.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer

Federal lawmakers met with health officials Tuesday and said a $500,000 study - long demanded by the community - will be undertaken to investigate whether work at the Santa Susana Field Lab could have harmed public health.

Plans for additional study of chemical or radiation exposure came during a meeting with health officials who surveyed the lab last month. Despite its call for further study, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry said there is no indication that those in local communities have been exposed to substances from the facility at levels that could cause harm.

``We've got an agreement on doing a feasibility study. That in itself is great progress,'' said Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Simi Valley. ``It's very encouraging.''

An aide to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said the commitment to a study is a positive development.

``We're looking at a really extensive review,'' said spokesman Howard Gantman. ``We're looking at this as a step forward but there's a lot more that needs to be done.''

The study would cost an estimated $500,000 and could be conducted by the agency - which conducted the latest Rocketdyne survey - or an institution like the University of California, Los Angeles, which was commissioned in the mid-1990s to conduct a pair of studies on worker health at Rocketdyne, officials said.

The state has earmarked $150,000 for a preliminary community health study, which could possibly be used, officials said. More information about the study is expected early next year.

Representatives from the agency are scheduled to present their findings during a public meeting Thursday in Simi Valley.

During a two-hour meeting in Washington, D.C., Gallegly, Feinstein and Sen. Barbara Boxer met with agency officials who toured the lab in October, gathered community input and reviewed decades of documents. The agency found that further review - including analysis of cancer data - is needed.

``Although further actions are needed to better understand the potential for human exposure and public health hazard posed by the Santa Susana site, based on upon our initial review of existing data on possible pathways of exposure from the site, we have not seen that people in local communities have been exposed to substances from the site at levels that would result in adverse health effects,'' the agency said in its one-page summary.

The agency called for:

More in-depth assessment of ways residents could be exposed to chemicals or radiation from the site, located in the hills between Simi Valley and Chatsworth.

A public education campaign about possible exposures.

A look at airborne chemical releases; water flow and springs monitoring in Simi Valley and the Santa Susana Knolls; and further sampling at the lab site where nuclear energy research was conducted.

Additional study of cancer registry data which has shown apparent increased rates of bladder and lung cancer in certain nearby communities.

``This looks like it might be a step in the right direction,'' said Joseph Lyou, a member of an anti-nuclear organization who also serves on a work group monitoring toxic cleanup at the lab. ``We've learned over the years to look at everything with a skeptical eye. It's encouraging that agencies agreed that further work needs to be done. We hope they would be willing to work with us in a manner that has the full confidence of the community.''

Rocketdyne spokesman Dan Beck said the company was pleased with the agency's findings.

``I think this offers further assurance in the community that SSFL does not pose a health threat,'' said Beck. ``We recognize there are lingering questions among people in the community, thousand of whom are our employees and their families . . . It's our hope that good science rules the day. We think this is a good step.''

The site in the hills is still used for rocket engine testing. It had been used for nuclear energy research through the 1980s under various contracts with the government.

In 1989, it was disclosed that the chemicals and radiation had contaminated water and soil on the site, leading to a massive federal cleanup program and community calls for health studies. Two UCLA studies of workers found higher cancer mortality rates among those exposed to radiation and certain chemicals at the lab.