TCE Plume

Massive trichloroethylene (TCE) plumes exist under the SSFL, with approximately 500,000 gallons of TCE remaining. Other groundwater contamination includes perchlorate, dioxins, and radioactive tritium.

Each Responsible Party (NASA, Boeing, and Department of Energy) are responsible for the remediation of the groundwater under their property.

Boeing has been advocating “natural attenuation” for its groundwater remediation, which literally means doing nothing and monitoring it, which is also the cheapest option and would take centuries to remediate this way.

Groundwater FAQ

  • “Compared to surface water pollution, investigation and remediation of groundwater are often more difficult, costly, and extremely slow.”

    Boeing’s Tentative NPDES Permit, 2022

  • Golden State Water Company operates two municipal drinking water wells ... which are located near areas where perchlorate in groundwater resources has been detected at concentrations of up to about 15 ppb.

    Preliminary Assessment/Site Inspection Report Santa Susana Field Laboratory, Simi Valley, 2007

  • TCE was detected in 355 of 425 wells sampled at the SSFL. Highest concentration detected was 110,000 parts per billion. The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment lists the public health goal for TCE in drinking water at 0.0017 parts per billion.

    CalEPA, Santa Susana Field Laboratory Groundwater Investigation, 2007

  • The SSFL groundwater discharges to the surface water at 28 spring-seep locations. Recent data indicated that TCE has been detected at one of the spring-seep locations. The SSFL site and surrounding land support habitat for endangered and threatened species.

    Preliminary Assessment/Site Inspection Report SSFL, 2007

SSFL Groundwater Tour, 2024

Residents were invited to go on a tour of the Santa Susana Field Lab to discuss the groundwater contamination. Here's Melissa Bumstead’s recap of Boeing's presentation:

  1. Boeing's scientists showed us core samples from the SSFL and talked a lot about how they were preeminent experts on hydrology. I asked them to clarify their relationship with Boeing at which point they admitted they were paid consultants, but also educators too, and they claimed no conflict of interest. I found that hard to believe when one of the experts kept saying how "insignificant" the pollution at the SSFL is and how it was a "mystery" how the groundwater got contaminated. The cleanup option they pushed the hardest for was natural attenuation which is literally doing nothing for centuries, which is obviously the cheapest and slowest option for cleaning the SSFL's groundwater. How convenient for Boeing that their experts would recommend the cheapest option, even if it leaves our groundwater contaminated and Simi's drinking water at risk.

  2. Boeing's expert said that the complete cleanup of the Santa Susana Field Lab's groundwater would cost tax-payers a billion dollars and wouldn't we rather put that money towards schools, roads, and emergency services? I reminded him that Boeing will pay for the groundwater cleanup on Boeing's property, not tax-payers, at which point he changed the subject.

  3. The Boeing experts told us the contaminated groundwater isn't coming offsite or into the local seeps or springs. I told them that the pollution had been found offsite at the Brandeis Bardin campus well, at which point they said that there is some migration offsite and they haven't seen it at the seeps and springs because it might take a while longer for the contamination to reach them.

  4. The brought us to Boeing's Groundwater Extraction Treatment System (GETS) and told us how effectively it was cleaning groundwater at the SSFL. Jeni pointed out that the GETS hadn't been running for two years, at which point he told us that it was offline because it hadn't been doing a good job but they had every intention of turning it back on soon, once they figure out how to fix it.

Overall, we were shocked by the levity of Boeing's experts towards our groundwater's contamination. They left out important details and clearly had an agenda that will profit Boeing and not the public.