WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Energy announced today that it has reached an agreement in principle with California's Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) and NASA on the cleanup of the Santa Susana Field Lab (SSFL) site in Simi Valley.
"The Department is pleased that we have achieved a conceptual agreement for cleanup of the DOE portion of the Santa Susana Field Lab site," said Dr. Ines Triay, DOE Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management. "By putting to one side unresolved legal issues and working together, we have found a framework that would result in an enforceable consent order that commits the Department to cleaning the soil to background levels of contamination, as determined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for radioactive materials and the Department of Toxic Substances Control for chemicals. This is indeed a breakthrough and we anticipate moving forward to receiving public input, swiftly completing the consent order, and implementing its provisions."
The agreement in principle must be embodied in a final administrative agreement on consent before it is effective. Any such agreement will be conditioned upon compliance with the federal court's decision in the prior National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) litigation.
The SSFL, owned by the Boeing Company is located 30 miles north of Los Angeles, California. Area IV was primarily used for the DOE research and development activities.
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