No environmental review needed for former nuclear testing site

[Susan L Gawarecki <loc@icx.net>]

Can someone tell me about the incident that the article refers to as "a

nuclear reactor meltdown in 1959" near Simi Valley?



Susan Gawarecki



No environmental review needed for former nuclear testing site,

officials said

ASSOCIATED PRESS

1:22 a.m., April 2, 2003



VENTURA – Federal officials said that a former nuclear testing site at

Rocketdyne's Santa Susana Field Laboratory will not have to undergo a

rigorous environmental review before it is cleaned up and cleared for

unrestricted use.



Tuesday's announcement by the Department of Energy will allow the site

to

be developed for a housing development. Cleanup of the site is expected

to be completed by 2007.



The area near Simi Valley had a nuclear reactor meltdown in 1959 and

nuclear operations were stopped 30 years later. Many residents have

complained that the soil still has a variety of contaminants that would

be

harmful for people who may live there one day.



Federal officials said the site would pose no significant threat to

human health or the environment after it is cleaned up to at least

minimum standards for radioactive contamination set by the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency.



But others, including U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, disagree.



"The Department of Energy is authorizing the release of a witches' brew

of 

radioactive and chemical contaminants" by allowing a less extensive

review

of the property, Boxer said in a prepared statement. "We need a full and

complete cleanup of the facility."



Although the outdoor field lab stretches across 2,668 acres, the

decision

applies to only 270 acres, including 90 acres where the federal

government conducted its nuclear research. Rocketdyne is a division of

aerospace giant and military defense contractor Boeing.



The Energy Department selected a cleanup plan that calls for clearing

away

5,500 cubic meters of contaminated soil instead of 450,000 cubic meters.

The option does not require the government to conduct a full

environmental

study of the effect the radioactive contamination would have on people

and

wildlife.



Find this article at: 

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20030402-0122-ca-nuclearcleanup.html 

-- 

.....................................................

Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director

Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee

102 Robertsville Road, Suite B, Oak Ridge, TN 37830

Toll free 888-770-3073 ~ www.local-oversight.org

.....................................................

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