The Energy Department, Boeing and NASA have submitted a plan to the California Department of Toxic Substances Control outlining how they plan to determine baseline air quality prior to cleanup work at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory.
That’s among the recent milestones cited in a September report by (California Department of Toxic Substances Control) DTSC on progress at the 2,850-acre SSFL site in the Simi Hills in Ventura County, California. The Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) is located 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
Boeing, NASA and DOE are the responsible parties for site cleanup. In a document filed in September, the parties said they plan to use more than a dozen monitoring stations to assess current air quality over a year before the start of cleanup, which is currently targeted for 2019.
The parties will measure concentrations of dust, volatile organic compounds, and radionuclides around SSFL prior to excavation. Meteorological data will be collected from onsite towers for factors such as wind speed, direction, temperature, precipitation, among other things. The research should help identify “data gaps” in current information.
The September report notes that DTSC and DOE continue to discuss technologies for treatment of chlorinated solvents at the DOE-controlled portion of the site. DOE must still submit a final white paper on the issue.
The California public comment period for the Program Management Plan, which had previously been scheduled to end on Sept. 7, was extended until Dec. 7. All three responsible parties must have draft cleanup documents to DTSC in late 2018 to early 2019.
Over the years, the SSFL served as a former rocket engine test and nuclear research facility. The portion that was controlled by DOE is within the 290-acre Area IV. This was the location of the Energy Technology Engineering Center facility where nuclear research, development, and testing began in the 1950’s.
