NASA aims to make field lab a cultural site; activists say it's ploy to get out of cleanup

NASA is trying to have the entire contaminated Santa Susana Field Laboratory designated a cultural district, an effort cleanup activists allege is an attempt by the agency to get out of remediating its portion of the site.

NASA's portion includes the Burro Flats Painted Cave, a prehistoric Native American site in a 25-acre area that is already listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the California Register of Historical Resources. 

Top stories from a state that matters: Sign up for our California newsletter today

But NASA is now proposing to the California Office of Historic Preservation that the entire 2,850-acre field lab site outside Simi Valley be designated as a new Burro Flats Cultural District.

"NASA takes seriously its role as a steward of the cultural resources within NASA-administered areas at Santa Susana Field Laboratory and has been working with the Native American community to protect the irreplaceable cultural resources at SSFL," NASA spokeswoman Shannon Segovia said in a statement.

Related news:

• Feds to tear down 10 buildings at Santa Susana site
• County urges NASA to stick to cleanup pact
• Fireworks erupt at Santa Susana nuke meltdown meeting

Ventura County planners believe other Native American artifacts are likely present in the proposed new cultural district.

"The Native American community has indicated the (proposed) district is important for its past and renewed use in celebrating the winter and summer solstices," NASA and the Office of Historic Preservation said in their registration form with the National Register of Historic Places.

The historic preservation office says the proposed cultural district is eligible for listing in the National Register because of its Native American ethnic heritage, archaeology and "its remarkable examples of prehistoric Native American rock art."

Cleanup activists, however, say NASA's proposal is a ploy to get out of its cleanup obligations at the site, which experienced a partial nuclear meltdown in 1959 when it was the Rocketdyne/Atomics International rocket engine test and nuclear facility. It experienced other chemical and radioactive contamination over the years as well.

NASA signed a 2010 legally binding agreement with the state to fully clean up its portion of the site, located in unincorporated hills just southeast of Simi Valley at the Los Angeles County border.

But the pact contains exemptions for land containing Native American artifacts.

"NASA now wants to expand that exemption from artifacts to cover the whole 2,850 acres of soil," said activist Dan Hirsch, president of the Committee to Bridge the Gap, a nonprofit nuclear policy organization, and the retired director of the Program on Environmental and Nuclear Policy at UC Santa Cruz. "That would breach the 2010 agreement."

Denise Duffield, associate director of Physicians for Social Responsibility — Los Angeles, agrees.

"NASA's nomination of the entire Santa Susana Field Laboratory to be listed in the national register is entirely designed to help it evade cleaning up its portions of the site," she said.

She and Hirsch said Native American artifacts at the site already have special protections under the 2010 agreement.

And they argue that the proposed cultural district does not meet the requirements for listing with the national registry.

The nomination, for instance, fails to provide a defensible rationale for why the proposed district's boundaries "miraculously" coincide with those of the entire field lab site, Duffield said.

The state warned NASA last year to fully clean up its portion of the site after becoming concerned that the agency seemed to be considering remediating to a lesser standard.

The county expressed similar concerns in January, urging NASA to adhere to the 2010 agreement.

Segovia said Friday that "NASA is committed to completing a long-term cleanup that is protective of public health and the environment.

"The listing of the Burro Flats Cultural District ... in the National Register of Historic Places will not change or impact NASA’s commitment or responsibility to cleanup," she said.

In December, the Office of Historic Preservation asked the Ventura County Cultural Heritage Board to prepare a report as to whether the proposed Burro Flats Cultural District meets the criteria of the National Register of Historic Places.

The board considered the proposed district at a meeting June 29 and expressed concerns.

“The proposed Burro Flats Cultural District nomination conflicts with the public health, safety and general welfare to the extent the nomination impairs or impedes the legally mandated cleanup efforts at the proposed district," says the board's recommendation to the county Board of Supervisors.

The supervisors are scheduled to make their own recommendation to the Office of Historic Preservation at their July 28 meeting, said Jessica Cleavenger, a senior planner with the county.

After that, NASA's proposal will be considered by the State Historical Resources Commission at its Aug. 14 meeting. The commission has the final say on whether to grant or deny the proposal, Cleavenger said.

Kenneth Kahn, tribal chairman for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, did not respond to requests for comment.

The field lab site, divided into four areas and two buffer zones, is now largely owned by aerospace giant Boeing, which is responsible for cleaning up Area 3, its part of Area 1 and a southern buffer zone.

NASA administers a smaller portion of the site and is responsible for remediating Area 2 and its part of Area 1.

The federal Energy Department doesn't own any land at the site, but is responsible for cleaning up Area 4 and a northern buffer zone.

Under the 2010 agreement, the cleanup was supposed to have been completed by the end of 2017. But it hasn't begun yet.

Mike Harris covers the East County cities of Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks, as well as transportation countywide. You can contact him at mike.harris@vcstar.com or 805-437-0323.

SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM and get all the latest East County news from Star reporter Mike Harris. Get a digital subscription