Forever Chemicals Likely Leaching From Former NASA Lab Into Los Angeles River

The California Environmental Protection Agency’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) oversees the cleanup of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL), an approximately 2,850-acre site near Los Angeles where nuclear and rocket engine research, as well as liquid metal testing, was conducted until 2006.

According to Boeing, NASA had operations at SSFL, as did various Boeing heritage companies.

Now, at least two toxic “forever chemicals” — polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — have been found to likely be leaching into the Los Angeles River and its aquifer, according to a press release from watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Farmers in the region get their water from the aquifer.

SSFL, which began rocket engine testing for the federal government in 1947, is located 50 miles from the point where the LA River enters the Pacific Ocean.

“California’s pollution control agencies are not just asleep at the switch but appear to be in a coma,” said Jeff Ruch, Pacific director of PEER, which filed a lawsuit over the cleanup of SSFL, as The Guardian reported.

PCBs are highly toxic and do not break down in the environment, but continuously cycle between water, soil and air and can be carried a long way. They have been found to cause a variety of health issues. The U.S. banned the production of PCB compounds in 1979.

SSFL’s water pollution permit prohibits them from discharging PCBs, but does not have appropriate detection limits for the chemicals, PEER and other watchdog groups allege, according to the press release.

The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board has identified SSFL as the “likely culprit” of the PCBs contamination of the river, but has refused to release the information, PEER said.

The watchdog groups said that, even though pressure has been put on Boeing and there is evidence of the pollution, the aerospace company has been permitted to keep polluting, reported The Guardian.

There are about 15,000 different PFAS compounds, which are often used to make products that are stain-, water- and grease-resistant. The dangerous chemicals are also used in aerospace manufacturing and are the main firefighting foam ingredient. PFAS have been linked with many health risks, including cancer, high cholesterol and birth defects.

There have been repeated nuclear accidents at SSFL, and nearby residents have long thought some of their illnesses may have come from its rampant radioactive waste. The radioactive discharge likely makes its way into the headwaters of the LA River through the soil.

In 2021, NASA told DTSC that “PFAS-containing materials are documented to have been located in the NASA administered areas,” according to The Guardian.

According to confidential interviews between PEER and the Los Angeles water quality control board, analyses by the water board have identified SSFL as “the source of profound PCB pollution of the L.A. River,” the press release said. PEER formally requested documents corroborating the findings by the water board in December of last year.

“[T]here are still significant records to review to responsiveness and privilege (e.g., attorney-client, attorney work-product, deliberative, etc.)[.] Since the Public Records Act request was received, the Los Angeles Water Board has provided non-privileged responsive documents on a rolling basis,” staff from the Water Board said, according to PEER.

Ruch said that no cleanup is currently scheduled at SSFL.

“The Water Board should get to the bottom of the PCB issue before they plow forward with another multi-year permit. We doubt that the staff have shared these documents with the Water Board members themselves,” Ruch said in the press release, noting that the former water board chair had no knowledge of the PCB issue.

Following testimony of the contamination in February, the water board postponed their consideration for a week, then canceled a follow-up meeting.

“[I]n light of the significant public testimony and Los Angeles Water Board’s desire to fully consider that testimony, the Los Angeles Water Board is postponing the public hearing for its continued deliberation on this matter to a future date,” the board said.

Ruch pointed out that SSFL’s water pollution permit expired in 2015.

“The fundamental problems with this permit in February remain unaddressed,” Ruch said. “It is not just PCBs, but roughly 90% of the toxic chemicals detected at Santa Susana are exempted from enforceable limits in today’s proposed permit.”

Ruch said that testing at the mouth of the Los Angeles River has found PCB levels to be 100 times higher than regulatory limits in a place where people often fish for sustenance, The Guardian reported.

Ruch added that just monitoring for PFAS was akin to “waving at the bank robbers as they leave the bank,” as reported by The Guardian. “It’s a good first step, but would be much better if they stopped it from leaving the site.”

Boeing and California Governor Gavin Newsom reached a deal last year that would only require Boeing to clean up approximately 10 percent of the contamination from the site. PEER, along with other environmental organizations, are suing the State of California, demanding that they force more stringent cleanup and open complete details of the deal to public review.

The lawsuit says that, under the deal, SSFL land would be still too contaminated for residential use post-cleanup.

“At the current rate of progress, Santa Susana is going to remain a toxic waste pit into perpetuity,” Ruch said, as The Guardian reported.