Two highly toxic chemicals contaminating a former NASA research site are also likely contaminating the Los Angeles River and the aquifer from which the region’s agricultural growers get their water, watchdog groups and whistleblowers are suing.
The field laboratory in Santa Susana, about 30 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, is already notorious for its radioactive waste, but the site, owned by the federal government and Boeing, is now also suspected of leaking polychlorinated biphenyls ( PCBs) and per- and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) “forever chemicals” in the water.
Despite evidence of the pollution and pressure from environmental groups for action, state regulators have so far allowed Boeing to continue polluting without a cleanup or proper control of the hazardous chemicals, say the groups.
“California’s pollution control agencies are not only asleep at the switch, but appear to be in a coma,” said Jeff Ruch, Pacific director of the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (Peer), which has filed a lawsuit over the cleanup of the location. .
PFAS are a class of approximately 15,000 compounds most commonly used to make products water, stain and grease resistant. The chemicals have been linked to cancer, birth defects, reduced immunity, high cholesterol, kidney disease and a range of other serious health problems. They are called ‘forever chemicals’ because they do not break down naturally in the environment.
PFAS are the main ingredient in firefighting foam and are used in aerospace applications. NASA and Boeing tested rockets at Santa Susana before the site closed in 2006, so the chemicals were likely used in large quantities. PCBs are a class of chemicals that have been banned for more than 40 years due to their high toxicity, but have been used in industrial applications such as electrical transformers in Santa Susana.
The 2,800-hectare site is located between the Simi and San Fernando Valleys. Numerous nuclear accidents have occurred at the site and local residents suspect that radioactive waste from Santa Susana has made them sick.
The PFAS and PCB contamination in the soil is likely migrating to the headwaters of the Los Angeles River. Water from the aquifer beneath the site is used by farmers in Ventura County and will likely contaminate crops, Peer said.
NASA warned California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control in January 2021 that “PFAS-containing materials have been documented in NASA-managed areas,” prompting the former to recommend it “for further investigation.”
But the investigation never took place, Ruch said. The Los Angeles Regional Water Board, the state agency that could order monitoring and cleanup, will meet Sept. 28 to consider a five-year pollution discharge permit for the site. A draft decision posted on the agency’s website does not include any requirements for monitoring or cleanup of PFAS and PCBs, but a spokesperson for the board told the Guardian that after input from the public, the agency decided to add PFAS monitoring to the permit to add.
No cleanups are currently planned, and Ruch says simply checking for PFAS is like “waving at the bank robbers as they leave the bank.”
“It’s a good first step, but it would be much better if they prevented it from leaving the site,” he added.
Testing at the mouth of the Los Angeles River found PCB levels 100 times higher than clean water limits, and in a place where people often fish for food, Ruch said.
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Regulators have said tests in Santa Susana found no PCBs, but the state conducted the wrong kind of test, a whistleblower from the Los Angeles Regional Water Board and Peer allege.
There is evidence that Santa Susana is the source of the PCBs, Ruch said, because all other potential PCB pollutants along the river were also taken into account. The whistleblower told Peer that memos and communications within the agencies indicate the agency is aware that PCBs originate from Santa Susana, Ruch said.
Peer attempted to obtain these documents through a Freedom of Information Act request, but the agency did not turn them over, Ruch added. It’s unclear whether the new tests proposed by the water board will include the correct methodology, he said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration and Boeing reached an agreement last year that Ruch described as a “sweet cleanup deal” that required the company to remove only about 10% of the contamination from the site. It replaced a 2007 consent order to the state with stricter monitoring requirements.
The deal, which Ruch said was made behind closed doors and remains largely shielded from the public, also does not require testing for PFAS or PCBs. Peer and other environmental groups are to sue the state to investigate the entire deal and enforce a stricter cleanup.
Under the Newsom deal, the land would not be suitable for residential use after remediation because it would remain so contaminated, the lawsuit alleges.
“At the current rate of progress, Santa Susana will remain a toxic waste pit in perpetuity,” Ruch said.