Settlement Near in Suit Over Rockwell Scientists’ Deaths

SIMI VALLEY —  Still facing a federal criminal investigation into a 1994 blast that killed two scientists at Rockwell International’s Santa Susanna Field Lab, the company is settling one of its related legal problems--a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the men’s families.

The wrongful-death suit was just one of several legal moves against Rockwell’s Rocketdyne division since the July 26, 1994, explosion that killed company physicists Otto K. Heiney and Larry A. Pugh.

Both Rockwell and the families’ attorney said Tuesday they are still working out minor details, but agreed last month to all the key elements of the settlement. Neither side would disclose the amount of money involved.

The two Rocketdyne scientists were burning explosive waste when they were killed in the chemical blast, investigators have said.

Rocketdyne has denied that report. The company said the men were igniting highly explosive chemicals and measuring the blast waves that day as part of a legitimate experiment at Rocketdyne’s rugged Santa Susanna Field Laboratory, midway between Simi Valley and the division’s Canoga Park headquarters.

But after several successful explosions, as the men were mixing another batch of nitrocellulose and glycidal azide polymer, the chemicals blew up in their faces. The explosion killed them, wounded a third Rocketdyne worker and touched off a small brush fire.

Since then, Rocketdyne has been under legal attack on several fronts for its work at the field lab:

* In January 1995, the state job-safety agency Cal/OSHA sought $200,000 in penalties against Rocketdyne for “willful-serious” violations of workplace safety rules in the deaths of Heiney and Pugh. The company has appealed the citations and fines.

* On July 13, 1995, about 20 federal agents from the FBI, NASA, EPA and the U.S. Departments of Defense, Energy, Air Force and Navy raided Rocketdyne’s Canoga Park headquarters and seized environmental files.

The continuing criminal probe focuses on how the firm was disposing of hazardous and possibly toxic waste at the field lab, and how the company billed the government for the cost.

* Less than two weeks later, the families sued Rockwell, Rocketdyne and top company officials. Heiney’s family sought $25 million in U.S. District Court, and Pugh’s family sought $100 million in damages in Orange County Superior Court. Rockwell settled both suits out of court last month for an undisclosed amount, according to statements Tuesday by company officials and the families’ attorney.

* On Dec. 14, the Brandeis-Bardin Institute in Simi Valley filed suit in Ventura County Superior Court alleging that radioactive and chemical contamination seeping downhill from next-door Rocketdyne had polluted ground water, lowering the property value of the 3,100-acre institute.

* Last month, a Rockwell shareholder sued company directors in Orange County Superior Court, alleging they had recklessly disregarded environmental laws, thus exposing the company to millions of dollars in potential damages.

Rockwell has declined to comment on the pending legal actions.

Tuesday, neither Rockwell officials nor the attorney for the families of Heiney and Pugh would say how much the company paid to settle those two lawsuits.

“Since the accident, we’ve taken a number of actions to assist the families, but details are confidential,” said Rockwell spokesman Paul Sewell, reading a prepared statement. “We understand their lawsuits are being dismissed, but these details are also confidential.”

Morgan Smith, a San Francisco attorney representing the families, said his firm and Rocketdyne are still hashing out details of the settlement, though the bulk of it was agreed upon last month.

He added, “It’s a confidential settlement, so what I can tell you is the case has been settled to the satisfaction of all parties.”

Heiney’s widow, Judith Heiney, also would not say how much Rockwell paid to settle her suit.

“The suit was finished with a mutual agreement of both parties,” Judith Heiney said in a phone interview Tuesday. Pugh’s widow, Antoinette Pugh, could not be reached for comment.

The day after the accident, Rocketdyne reports said Heiney, 53, and Pugh, 51, were testing “overpressure” waves emitted during chemical explosions.

A Rocketdyne report said the two men would cover the bottom of an aluminum pan with layers of sawdust, nitrocellulose, glycidal azide polymer and triamino guanidine nitrate, then retreat to a safe distance and ignite the mix with a remotely controlled electric match.

But Cal/OSHA investigators said in a report that the two appeared to be burning off the chemicals, not running valid tests.

Inspectors noted that they saw none of the measuring devices necessary for such tests to yield valid data.

Said Cal/OSHA’s report: “The manner in which the tests were set up and performed appeared to be a disguise for destroying waste explosive materials.”