In response to requests for more time, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control has extended by 45 days the public comment period on two draft documents for the planned cleanup of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) site.
Stakeholders now have until Dec. 7 to provide input on DTSC’s draft program environmental impact report (PEIR) and draft program management plan (PMP).
In addition, DTSC said public hearings are planned for Oct. 5 in Simi Valley and Oct. 7 in Chatsworth.
The draft documents concern remediation at the chemically and radioactively contaminated 2,850-acre site in Ventura County. Boeing owns most of the property, but the Energy Department and NASA are also responsible for cleanup of different areas of the facility once for research and development of rocket engines, nuclear energy systems, and other technologies. DOE’s area of responsibility totals about 472 acres.
Plans for Santa Susana’s cleanup have been marked by missed deadlines. The project is still in the planning stages, although actual cleanup was scheduled to have started this year.
The Energy Department has acknowledged it cannot meet the 2017 deadline for soil and groundwater remediation of a portion of the site. One prerequisite for that work to begin, though, is completion of state and DOE environmental assessments – neither of which are finished.
