Aerospace Leaves Lasting Mark

Two announcements in recent weeks raise potentially troubling questions about the extent of toxic contamination left behind as the Valley’s once-thriving aerospace industry retrenches and regroups. The month began with word that aerospace giant Boeing was taking over Rockwell International’s aerospace and defense companies--an acquisition that causes concern over which company will be responsible for toxic cleanup at the Rocketdyne division’s Santa Susana Field Lab. Similarly, Lockheed Martin Corp.’s agreement to pay 1,300 Burbank residents $60 million serves as a reminder that decades of developing the latest high-tech gizmos can have side effects that linger even longer.

Rockwell for years used the Santa Susana facility to develop and test the rockets that hurled man into space. In recent years, though, the company also has been cleaning up traces of carcinogenic solvents and radioactive substances that leached into the ground.

Officials of both Rockwell and Boeing declined to speculate how the takeover deal will affect the cleanup operation or whether Boeing would assume any potential liability for the contamination. Already, Rockwell is being sued by a neighbor on a claim of ground water contamination, and the federal government is investigating illegal chemical burning that killed two scientists in 1994. The potential exists for the cleanup to get lost in the shuffle as responsibility shifts from one company to the next. Boeing can claim it didn’t cause the mess and Rockwell can claim it no longer owns the property. But we hope both companies will continue the cleanup as aggressively as possible.

Likewise, Lockheed Martin should remain focused on removing carcinogenic solvents from soil at its former complex in Burbank. Although it paid off hundreds of neighbors critical of the its handling of toxics, Lockheed Martin still bears considerable responsibility for cleaning up a mess that took decades to accumulate. Its property is part of a federal Superfund site that officials estimate will require 22 years and $150 million to clean. As it slowly sells off its land, Lockheed should not assume that its responsibility passes with the title.

There is no denying that Rockwell and Lockheed both have accomplished great things over the years, from providing thousands of jobs to local residents to opening the heavens to mankind. But there is also no denying that both Rockwell and Lockheed have much still to do in the years to come.