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There are dozens of sensitive and endangered species at the Santa Susana Field Lab. They deserve to thrive in a safe, toxic-free environment.
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The Santa Susana Field Lab is one of the headwaters of the Los Angeles River and Ventura County’s Calleguas Creek Watershed.
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Reuters SSFL Article
A year-long investigative study on the Boeing Company’s Conservation easement at the Santa Susana Field Lab revealed that they plan to leave much of the contamination behind, breaking their promises to be good stewards of the land.
FAQs
Who are all the Responsible Parties?
While Boeing owns 80% of the Santa Susana Field Lab, NASA and the Department of Energy are also Responsible Parties for the cleanup for each of their portions of the site. The Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) is an agency under California’s EPA and is the regulating agency for the cleanup. Unfortunately, the DTSC has caved to Boeing, NASA and the Dept. of Energy’s pressure instead of protecting the environment and people.
Has the cleanup started yet?
The DTSC has ordered an “Emergency” cleanup of the Area 1 Burn Pit (read more here). However, the entire SSFL’s cleanup has not begun, though it was promised to be completed by 2017.
The original 2007 and 2010 cleanup agreements for the SSFL had promised a complete cleanup to “Background” or “Residential with Garden” cleanup levels. This would have removed all, or nearly all, of the site’s dangerous chemical, toxic metal, and radioactive contamination and would have returned it to its natural state.
Boeing threatened to sue if they had to follow through with their promise for a complete cleanup, as they claimed it was too expensive, possibly as much as a billion dollars.
The DTSC entered a “Settlement Agreement” in 2022, allowing Boeing to leave over 90% of its property contaminated and 65% of NASA and the Department of Energy’s. DTSC hailed the deceitful agreement as a victory for the people and wildlife. Instead, it will leave the site and groundwater polluted for perpetuity.
Learn how you can help us fight back and restore the Santa Susana Field Lab to its natural state.
Why does Boeing claim the site is safe?
Boeing has spent millions of dollars on greenwashing, lobbyists, PR firms, and lawyers in an attempt to make the Santa Susana Field Lab feel safe. It’s not. According to Boeing’s own data, some parts of the SSFL are so contaminated that if people lived there and ate the produce they grew onsite, 96 out of 100 people would get cancer in their lifetimes. That’s horrifying when compared to the EPA’s acceptable excess cancer rate of 1 in 1,000,000 people.
“If the SSFL property is not safe for people, then it certainly is not safe for much of the wildlife.”
Boeing knows it’s cheaper to re-brand the Santa Susana Field Lab than completely clean it up. A similar ploy has been successful in other communities- like the Rocky Flats Nature Preserve in Colorado, which is still contaminated.
We acknowledge that we are on the unceded territories of the Gabrieleno Tongva, Chumash, and the Fernandeño Tataviam people. We acknowledge and honor the original inhabitants and seek meaningful partnership and inclusion in the stewardship and protection of their cultural resources and homelands.