M E L I S S A

Simi valley is land of the site of the worst nuclear meltdown in American history. Why?Because since 1947, Rocketdyne, AKA North American Aviation, now Boeing, has operated the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in the hills above and to the West of Runkle Canyon without regard to the health or well being of the residents of this valley.In July, 1959, Rocketdyne experienced a partial meltdown in an experimental nuclear reactor that no one even knew existed, least of all the citizens living nearby. That accident, which Rocketdyne continued to deny until 1989, released at least 15 times the amount of radiation that escaped during the 1979 three-mile island disaster.According to an April 20, 2004 article in the Ventura County Reporter, a second incident occurred in 1959. This time, a fuel rod exploded while being washed with water, flooding a reactor with radiation that was vented outside. In 1960, a reactor pipe being moved outdoors for decontamination exploded and flew across a ravine.In 1964, Rocketdyne experienced a second partial meltdown when 80% of the fuel in an experimental reactor melted – and we don’ t know how much radiation was released during that incident, because Rocketdyne isn’t telling.In a Fact Sheet dated June of 2000, Rocketdyne states that “…a program to monitor the environmental levels of radioactivity started at the same time the company began nuclear research.”An April 19, 2004 article in the Ventura County Reporter contains a description by Department of Energy representative, Mike Lopez, that gives quite a different impression.Back then, according to Lopez, Rocketdyne maintained a sodium “burn pit”, where massive amounts of radioactive waste were disposed. Disposal procedures were both fun and informal: The barrels of radioactive sodium were “chucked” into a sludgy pond, and used as shooting targets. A direct hit would explode the canisters, releasing radioactive contaminants into the air.I would be interested to read Rocketdyne’s “monitoring reports” on the environmental levels of radioactivity that resulted from these “burn pit” activities.Moving on to chemical contamination, an audit report from NASA’s Office of the Inspector General, dated August 18, 1998, discloses that, for a period of 11 years, from 1950 through 1961, Rocketdyne used one of the most toxic chemicals on the planet – trichloroethylene (try-chlor-o-eth-a-lene) – to flush engines after test firing.Rocketdyne allowed this trichloroethylene or TCE, to drain into unlined channels that dumped into unlined retention ponds. Rocketdyne did not treat the TCE before allowing it to percolate into the ground – officials later insisted that they believed that the TCE would “evaporate”, leaving the environment unharmed.In 1961, Rocketdyne officials decided – for economic reasons - to build a recovery system to allow them to re-use the TCE. Unfortunately, however, by the time the recovery system was installed, Rocketdyne had already pumped more than 512,000 gallons of trichloroethylene into the ground.Rocketdyne has repeatedly assured the public that no contamination has ever ever, ever escaped the facility site. Ever.Really.According to an article published on April 11, 2003, concentrations of TCE at 10,000 parts per billion and higher were found in the soil and sandstone at Rocketdyne at depths ranging from 240 to 450 feet. A plume of contamination is migrating off the Rocketdyne site into Sage Ranch and Black Canyon.According to Rocketdyne, we need not be concerned. The company assures us that cleanup is in process, and the effort, (which 1997 estimates projected would take about 40 years), is now expected to finish by 2007.Should we believe Rocketdyne? Not according to NASA’s 1998 Office of the Inspector General Audit Report.That report states that both the Director of NASA and the Federal EPA Project Manager for the SSFL site believe that the nature of the TCE contamination at Rocketdyne is such that it could take 100 years or longer before cleanup is finally accomplished.