Lies & DECEIT

DOE blows up radioactive building

2021: DTSC had a study that showed the structure was radioactive, but that didn’t keep them from allowing DOE to blow it up.

DTSC to use 1974 radiation limits

2018: Cleanup activists follow the DTSC’s trail of breadcrumbs to learn 1974 detection limits would be used instead of modern limits.

DTSC Community Updates: Woolsey Fire

During the 2018 Woolsey Fire, DTSC claimed there wasn’t any chance of radioactive ash or smoke and lied about their sources.

DTSC Promises to use “best Science”

2022: DTSC claims their “best science” allows them to change the SRAM, resulting in 95% of the SSFL’s contaminated soil staying onsite.

California EPA’s EMpty Promises

In 2021, former CalEPA Secretary Blumenfeld promises the public he’ll reform the DTSC and keep the Responsible Parties from re-negotiating the cleanup agreement.s

EPA Region 9 Gregg Dempsey works closely with Committee to Bridge the Gap’s President Dan Hirsch

EPA catches Rocketdyne in the act

EPA investigator Gregg Dempsey visited the SSFL to inspect its radiation monitoring program in 1989. Dempsey found that Rocketdyne (Boeing’s predecessor) had been:

  • Washing vegetation samples (which had the effect of washing off surface radioactivity) before monitoring them.

  • Heating samples to a high temperature both vegetation and soil samples (which had the effect of driving off volatile radionuclides);

  • Inappropriately subtracting an arbitrary value from actual radiation levels measured by dosimeters (which had the effect of inappropriately lowering measured radiation amounts)

EPA’s Dempsey concluded that it is “clear to me that Rocketdyne does not have a good ‘handle’ on where radiation has been inadvertently or intentionally dumped onsite.” He also concluded, “the SSFL sampling, placement of sample locations, and analyses cannot guarantee that past actions have not caused offsite impacts. If the environmental program stays uncorrected, SSFL cannot guarantee that unforseen or undetected problems onsite will not impact the offsite environment in the future.” He later raised additional questions about Rocketdyne’s practice of filtering radioactivity out of its water samples before measuring them, and throwing away the filters without measuring the radioactivity filtered out.