ROCKETDYNE MEETINGS PACKED; INVESTIGATORS TO REPORT HEALTH STUDY FINDINGS.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer

An estimated 200 residents turned out this week as a federal public health team met with community members concerning toxic contamination at the Santa Susana Field Lab. The team will decide later whether a community health study is warranted.

The team spent the past week touring the site as members looked over the former nuclear energy research areas, viewed the rocket engine test stands, met with company and regulatory officials and heard from residents who packed two public meetings.

``It's an important site, a site right next to a major city,'' said Kathy Skipper, a spokeswoman for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

``There are a lot of issues at stake and we appreciate that. People are concerned for their health and quality of life. We appreciate that. I think we owe it to people in the community to give an answer as quick we can. They live here.''

The 11-member team is scheduled to present its findings by mid-November to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Simi Valley, who called for federal funding to lay the groundwork for a health study.

The head of the team, Burt Cooper, said he was overwhelmed by the turnout at Tuesday's public meeting in Chatsworth, which he said weighs heavily in the team's analysis of the site.

Still, he said, it is too early to say what his team, which collected dozens of files, documents and memos related to lab activities over the decades, expects to decide from its visit.

The agency is to determine if a public health assessment is warranted, and whether funding for a study would be available.

Activists who have monitored the site, where nuclear and chemical contamination were found in 1989, have been skeptical that the agency will conduct a thorough review.

They have for years called for a community health study independent of the government agencies.

``It's a possible good first step if indeed (the agency) does a good job and gives the money'' for an independent study, said Dan Hirsch, an anti-nuclear activist and member of two appointed committees reviewing cleanup at the site.

Said Gallegly, ``While I can understand their frustration, I'm not sure there's any better alternative to the approach we're taking right now.''

Gallegly added, ``The pace is never what we want it to be . . . The thing I'm interested in, the bottom line, is what's in the best interest of the public's health . . . and we have credible research.''

Rocketdyne officials said they provided the team with information it had requested.

A spokesman for Feinstein said the senator was waiting for the agency's report.

``We will review that report and, based on that, determine if there has been sufficient response,'' said Feinstein spokesman Howard Gantman.