Rick Perry ended his tenure as U.S. secretary of energy on Sunday, but not before issuing a press release highlighting the progress of cleanup at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) in Ventura County, Calif.
“I am proud of the work the Department of Energy (DOE) has done to advance the final cleanup of the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC) site at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in California,” Perry said in the Dec. 1 release. In September, Perry said he became the first energy secretary to visit the site, “to see first-hand the progress that has been made and the remaining cleanup challenges to be tackled.”
An advocacy group in Los Angeles said Perry’s goal was to blunt the effect the attention television personality Kim Kardashian was drawing to the Santa Susana contamination through her program last night on the E! network.
The SSFL is a former rocket engine test and nuclear research facility used by Boeing, NASA, and DOE. The Energy Department has overseen safe demolition of more than 250 buildings on its 470-acre portion of the 2,850-acre site, Perry said.
Following Perry’s visit, the Energy Department in October released a record of decision formalizing its intent to tear down the remaining 18 structures it owns at ETEC. The California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) and the state Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) subsequently said the federal agency needs state approval before it can proceed with demolition.
The Energy Department released the statement on Sunday because it heard the Kardashian program was going to address SSFL contamination, Denise Duffield, associate director of Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles, said by email.
The Perry statement offers nothing new, “DOE’s usual SSFL spin,” Duffield said. She added: “I guess they are afraid of the Kardashians? Or the attention that may come from the show?”
“The Santa Susana Field Lab story is so sad,” Kardashian said via Twitter on Sunday, alluding to possible link between contamination at the site and illnesses suffered by nearby residents. Kardashian said she has met with “these cancer survivor moms [near SSFL] and it’s heart breaking.”
Perry, a former Texas governor, announced his resignation in October. The Senate is scheduled to vote today on making Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette the new energy secretary.