PRESS RELEASE

FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL:

Dan Hirsch  |  (831) 332-3099
Melissa Bumstead  |  (818) 298-3192

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

March 31, 2022

PRESS CONFERENCE:

Scientists, Elected Officials, Local Groups, and Residents Speak Out Against California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC)’s Private Mediations with Boeing to Weaken Cleanup of Santa Susana Field Lab (SSFL)

What: Press Conference with elected officials, expert scientists, local groups, and residents
When: Thursday, April 7, 2022, at 10:00 am
Where: Santa Susana Field Lab, 5800 Woolsey Canyon Road, Canoga Park, CA 91304

In February 2020, CalEPA Secretary Jared Blumenfeld publicly declared to both elected officials and the public, that the DTSC would enforce the original SSFL cleanup agreements resulting in a comprehensive cleanup of the site.

“Those [SSFL cleanups agreements] are legally binding agreements. We will hold them to those agreements. Our job is to regulate, not to negotiate,” Blumenfeld said.

In January 2021 the DTSC invited Boeing to private mediations in order to discuss a technical document, known as the SRAM. Even a small manipulation of the existing SRAM would allow the majority of the SSFL’s soil to remain contaminated and the groundwater left polluted. The weakening of cleanup standards would allow the public and wildlife, including several endangered species, to be exposed to the SSFL’s heavy metals, toxic chemicals, and radioactive contamination for decades and in some cases, for centuries.

Elected officials, expert scientists, local groups, and residents are calling for Secretary Blumenfeld to remember his promises and to stop any deals with Boeing that would weaken the cleanup of the Santa Susana Field Lab.

Dr. Frank A. von Hippel, a highly regarded ecotoxicologist from the University of Arizona said, “The Santa Susana Field Lab has a history of use and release of numerous toxic chemicals, such as PCBs, heavy metals, and perchlorate. Many of these chemicals are present at concentrations known to impact wildlife - including chemicals that disrupt reproduction and development and that induce cancer. These risks extend to people living near the site. Additionally, many of these chemicals are persistent and will remain a risk for decades to centuries without proper remediation. Extensive remediation of the site is essential to protect human health and the environment.”

  • Dan Hirsch, president of Committee to Bridge the Gap and retired director of UCSC’s program for nuclear and environmental policy. 

  • Dr. Robert Dodge, president of Physicians for Social-Responsibility, Los Angeles

Elected Officials invited:

  • Senator Alex Padilla 

  • Congresswoman Julia Brownley

  • Congressman Brad Sherman

  • CA Senator Henry Stern

  • Assemblymember Jesse Gabriels 

  • VC Supervisor Linda Parks

  • VC Supervisor Robert Hueber

  • LA Supervisor Shiela Khuel

  • LA City Councilmember John Lee

  • Simi Valley City Councilmember Ruth Luevanos  

  • Thousand Oaks City Councilmember Claudia Bill-de la Peña

  • Mayor Paul Grisanti, Malibu

  • Mayor Janice Parvin, Moorpark 

  • Mayor James R. Bozajian, Calabasas

  • Mayor Stuart E. Siegel, Hidden Hills

  • Mayor Denis Weber, Agoura Hills

  • Mayor Keith Mashburn, Simi Valley

Promises made

CalEPA Secretary Jared Blumenfeld told both the elected officials and the local community at an SSFL Work Group Meeting in 2020, that the DTSC would enforce the original SSFL cleanup agreements resulting in a comprehensive cleanup of the site.

8:05. “Those are legally binding agreements. We will hold them to those agreements. Our job is to regulate, not to negotiate.”

3:55 “What we have in front of us, which I’ll describe, is agreements. We’re really not here to negotiate, this is not negotiation, this is about implementation.”

7:15 "[DTSC] is the regulator; the regulator means they set the clean up standards, this is not an ongoing negotiation with the polluters. The polluters have a role, they have to pay for it and they have to adhere to the standards that we have.”

9:35 “That’s what Boeing agreed to and frankly, we don’t have a lot of tolerance for having a negotiation. All the meetings I go to are like “Are we opening up the Consent Order? The answer is no. Are we opening up the Agreement On Consent? The answer is no.”


20:20. “You don’t get to just remove your clean up obligations or lessen them by changing the what the land use is. You just don’t get to do that. We get to decide as the regulator what the clean up standards are.”

Release sent by Melissa Bumstead with PASSFL (818) 298-3192

melissabumstead@sbcglobal.net /

https://parentsagainstssfl.com / / https://www.committeetobridgethegap.org


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