U.S. AWARDS BOEING CONTRACT TO CLEAN UP LAB.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Daily News Staff Writer

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a $148.5 million contract to Boeing to clean up nuclear waste at the Santa Susana Field Lab, an arrangement that officials say makes good business sense but opponents claim leaves remediation in the hands of polluters.

The contract charts a long-term cleanup course at the troubled Rocketdyne site in the hills between Simi Valley and Chatsworth. The Energy Department will monitor Boeing's cleanup work and the aerospace company will take over buildings and responsibility for the lab in 2006.

Department officials, with the backing of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, unveiled the contract Tuesday, saying it provides renewed incentive for the aerospace giant to clean up the site, where radiation has been detected in soil and water, and some former workers have been found to have abnormally high cancer rates.

``If they don't do it right, it'll be their own fault,'' said Roger Liddle, director of the DOE's Environmental Restoration Division. ``Their incentive is to do it right when we're paying the bill.''

Under the contract, Boeing will receive $148.5 million to decontaminate Area IV, where nuclear tests were conducted for decades before being closed down in the early 1980s.

DOE officials believe that Boeing could provide effective cleanup because of its familiarity with the site, advancements in cleanup technology and planned ownership of some facilities by the company, Liddle said.

In particular, the agreement calls for the company to be responsible for long-term groundwater pumping of the facility in exchange for title to several buildings that the DOE no longer needs.

The contract was not open to the public for bids, Liddle said.

Area anti-nuclear activists who have been Rocketdyne watchdogs said awarding the contract to Boeing rather than an outside agency is inappropriate.

``This is just blatant conflict of interest on the part of Rocketdyne and the DOE,'' said Joe Lyou of the group Committee to Bridge the Gap. ``You cannot trust the polluter to tell you that their site is clean.''

Boeing inherited the site's environmental problems when the company acquired the field lab in 1996, after its nuclear operations had been closed.

The activists took issue with the proposed time line, saying it was doubtful the site could be cleaned up in only eight years. They also questioned the funding allocation, which is significantly less than the $220 million the government originally estimated it would cost to clean up the site.

``I don't think there's any way in the world they can get it cleaned up by 2006. They might cut a lot of corners and leave a lot of contamination up at the site and walk away from it by 2006. But I don't think they'll actually have it cleaned by 2006,'' said Lyou.

Boeing and DOE officials countered that regulatory oversight remains in place to monitor the cleanup under the new contract.

``We really have not changed our level of oversight, what we have changed is our method of incentive,'' said Liddle. ``We've not cut any corners. We're not going to leave any contamination on the site.''

Liddle said decontamination costs have been adjusted downward because of new technology, such as Boeing's ability to clean up sodium, and because of the company's existing operations there.

The DOE already has spent $75 million cleaning up the site.

``We're able to keep the costs down but still do a thorough cleanup that is complete and within regulatory standards,'' said Rocketdyne spokesman Dan Beck. ``We believe it's in everybody's interest to complete the job as quick as we can and do it in the most thorough manner.''

The nuclear site is part of the sprawling 2,000-acre field lab in the Simi Hills that continues to conduct rocket testing. Engines tested there continue to play a role in space exploration, such as sending the rover Sojourner on its recent trip to Mars.

The site has been under a federal cleanup order since 1990, after radiation was found in soil and water samples. Other chemicals have also been found in the area, and a 1997 University of California, Los Angeles, study linked higher cancer rates to workers exposed to radiation.

Feinstein, a California Democrat, stepped in the middle of the Rocketdyne debate recently, joining a list of area politicians who have concerns.

``I am delighted to hear that the Department of Energy has funded $148 million for the cleanup of this site,'' said Feinstein in a statement.

However, the senator maintained that she was concerned about lack of funding for a planned community health study of residents living near the field lab. The DOE has said it was the federal Department of Health and Human Services' jurisdiction to conduct the study, and Feinstein on Tuesday sent a letter urging that department's secretary to conduct the study to evaluate cancer risks.

``I regret the fact that they are not able to fund the 1998 Community Health Studies project,'' she wrote. ``I believe it is important that these health studies be finished and I am joining the Department of Energy in requesting HHS complete the job.''