Boeing Breaks Cleanup Agreement
In May, 2022 the Boeing Company, which owns 80% of the Santa Susana Field Lab (SSFL), broke existing agreements with the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC).
The former 2007 cleanup agreement was a comprehensive cleanup that would remove most of Boeing’s chemical and radioactive contamination at the SSFL, protecting the environment, water, wildlife and the +700,000 people living nearby.
DTSC and Boeing claim the new, erroneously named “Settlement Agreement” will be faster, cheaper, and more comprehensive than the 2007 agreement, but a review by Committee to Bridge the Gap assessment and an investigate article by Reuters contradict those claims. The new agreement will leave 90-95% of the contaminated soil onsite, permanently.
The Settlement Agreement didn’t take effect until a vote by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (LARWQCB) in August of 2022. Their vote on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will release Boeing from their National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), which monitors pollution into the local waterways.
Main issues in Settlement Agreement
Settlement Agreement supersedes most of the 2007 Agreement, resulting in 95% of the contaminated soil remaining on site.
Agreement was negotiated in private without any representatives for the public interest, and was agreed to without any public input.
Agreement didn’t follow the CEQA process, a legally required environmental review. Parents Against SSFL, Physicians for Social Responsibility- Los Angeles (PSR-LA), and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) are currently suing DTSC and Boeing over the Settlement Agreement.
