Greenwashing
“Greenwashing is the act of making false or misleading statements about the environmental benefits of a product or practice. It can be a way for companies to continue or expand their polluting as well as related harmful behaviors, all while gaming the system or profiting off well-intentioned, sustainably minded consumers. ”
Boeing Awards Themselves
The Wildlife Habitat Council is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. For a fee you can become a member which allows companies to also be certified. Certified for what? It doesn’t matter. As long as the certification says “Wildlife Habitat Council” on it, it looks good for them. Past winners also include ExxonMobil, Marathon Petroleum, Bayer, AstraZeneca, and Monsanto. Boeing won three awards for the Santa Susana Field Lab but the website has no details of Boeing did to deserve the prize.
Boeing, The Environmentalists
Boeing is motivated to take the public on hikes across one of California’s most toxic superfund sites, the SSFL.
They don’t mention anywhere on the pocket guides that their “Settlment Agreement Cleanup” standard will require visitors to be on the site for less than two hours at a time, only a few times a month. Otherwise they would be exposed to radiation above the EPA maximum limit- though the World Health Organization argues there is no safe exposure to radiation.
Rebranding
Boeing knew it would need a major PR Media Campaign if they wanted to get out of the cleanup. After all, a PR strategy is much cheaper than the cost of a complete cleanup. They hired Robert E. Douglass, and he was so proud of his work that he posted it online. It was never intended to reach the public, as it shows their well-planned methods of deception, and it was removed immediately. Still, we managed to get a copy.
You can read the draft of the PR report to read the overall concept: greenwash the cleanup so they can leave most/all of the radioactive and carcinogenic waste onsite and come out looking like environmentalists. It would be a win-win for them and a lose-lose for the enviornment.
Read the Article: “Greenwashing” Rocketdyne
Boeing’s Conservation Easement
Boeing’s Land Easement Limits Indigenous Activity
Boeing donated their portion of the Santa Susana Field Lab to the North American Land Trust, saying this would make the land more accessible to local native tribes, including the Gabrieleno Tongva, Chumash, and the Fernandeño Tataviam people, but restrictions on the land use would prohibit indigenous people from many cultural and/or religious activities at the site.
No homes or buildings (except a cultural center)
No overnight stays
No hunting or gathering
No fishing
No gardening
No drinking water (ground or surface water, etc.)
Because Boeing intends to leave 90% of the contamination onsite, regardless of the fact that indigenous people are not allowed to hunt, garden, or drink the water under the Conservation Easement, they could still engage in cultural practices such as hiking, smudging, and steam baths that could expose them to the site’s contamination. This would create additional exposure pathways for the indigenous people.