Santa Susana Field Lab 101

Emmy-nominated documentary

In the Dark of the Valley follows moms who learn the Santa Susana Field Lab may have caused their children’s cancer. Watch for free.

LA’s Worst Kept Secret

People who have lived in greater Los Angeles for their whole lives are often surprised to learn about the Santa Susana Field Lab (SSFL), formerly known as Rocketdyne. Some folks have heard of it, but assumed the stories were urban legend.

Historic cleanup agreements were made in 2007 and 2010 to completely cleanup all man-made contamination from the SSFL, and have a permeant groundwater treatment system in place, by 2017. The agreements were not enforced.

Today, the SSFL remains one of California’s most toxic and radioactive superfund sites and it continues to harm the people, environment, water, and wildlife nearby.

HISTORICAL SITE ACTIVITES

  • Plutonium Fuel Facility

  • Liquid Metal Experiments

  • Open-Air Burn Pits

  • Radioactive Waste Management

  • Rocket Engine Testing

  • Uranium Fuel Facility

  • Chemcial Laser Research

  • Radioactive Hot Lab

  • Sodium Reactor Experiment Meltdown

  • Faulty TCE Collection Pools

  • Atomic Space Missiles

  • Illegal Waste Management

  • Employee Shooting Range

  • Experimental Nuclear Reactors

 Quick FAQs

  • The Boeing Company owns 80% of the Santa Susana Field Lab. NASA and the US Department of Energy are responsible for the cleanup of the remaining 20% of the site.

    The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) is the agency in charge of enforcing the cleanup.

  • The SSFL was originally used for rocket engine testing for America’s “Race to Space” during the Cold War.

    In the 1950s experimental nuclear energy facilities were added in “Area IV,” including 10 nuclear reactors. One of these, the SRE reactor had a partial meltdown in 1959, in addition to three other reactor accidents. There were no containment structures at any of the reactors.

    Across the SSFL there were toxic and radioactive leaks, spills, fires, open air burn pits, and illegal waste management practices that resulted in an FBI raid in 1996. The SSFL was shut down in 2006.

  • Boeing, NASA, and the Department of Energy are very powerful. They have the money, time, and energy to hire lawyers, lobbyists, and PR teams to sway decision makers.

    In the end, it comes down to money. The “Responsible Parties” value profit more than people.

    The Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), which is in charge of enforcing the SSFL cleanup, has been accused from Environmental Justice sites across CA for catering to polluters instead of protecting people. We’ve seen it at SSFL for decades. The DTSC allows mismanagement of the cleanup in order to gain favor instead of putting our lives first.

  • Yes. Unfortunately. We have federally-funded and peer-reviewed studies to prove that the SSFL is causing diseases in the people living near the site. Dr. Morgenstern’s study shows a 60% higher cancer incidence rate— a definitive study that shows a correlation between the SSFL and cancer.

    We also know from our “Citizen Science Toxic Mapping Project” that children and adults living near the SSFL are still getting incredibly rare cancers- above national averages.

  • You can help us in our quest for the complete cleanup! PASSFL is a small grassroots group and we need help getting the word out.

    • Invite friends over to watch “In the Dark of the Valley” together

    • Sign our Change.org petition

    • Email your elected officials and demand the complete cleanup

    • Join our mailing list for actions and news about the cleanup

WILDLIFE

The sensitive and endangered plans and wildlife at and near the SSFL don’t benefit from the site’s toxic and radioactive waste.

Children

The majority of pediatric cancers are not genetic, but may be the result of environmental contamination.

Water

The SSFL impacts local water sources. Boeing has been fined over $1M for polluting the LA River from the SSFL.