More Contaminant Testing Proposed

Development around Boeing’s Rocketdyne test facility near Simi Valley would be subject to another layer of environmental review if Ventura County supervisors move forward with a proposal by board member Linda Parks.

The Board of Supervisors this week stopped short of endorsing Parks’ proposed guidelines outright, instead directing county staff members to report back on whether the guidelines can be implemented without undue cost to individual landowners.

Under the proposal, developers would be required to test soil and water for the contaminants perchlorate and trichloroethylene before they could build. Both substances are believed to be harmful at high levels.

The requirement would be in addition to environmental reviews already mandated by state and federal laws.

Parks said an additional step was necessary because testing for the contaminants was too spotty under current guidelines.

“Let’s look to see if it’s there, and if it’s there to the extent it exceeds our health goals, then consider mitigation,” Parks told her board colleagues Tuesday. “I really do consider this a no-brainer.”

But supervisors Judy Mikels and Kathy Long objected to any new guidelines, saying they are unnecessary because the state already frequently tests for contaminants in the area.

Approving the new guidelines would be tantamount to declaring that testing at the Rocketdyne facility has polluted off-site lands, a finding that has not been proven, Mikels said.

“Nothing has been proven by the regulatory agencies, and to give validity to the questions and concerns of people other than our state regulatory agencies and their experts is not a good way to go,” said Mikels, whose district includes the Rocketdyne site.

From the 1950s through the 1980s, Rocketdyne conducted nuclear research on a portion of the field laboratory.

Perchlorate, an inorganic salt that can be harmful at excessive levels, was used in rocket tests and is also found in fireworks, road flares, air-bag triggers and other explosives.

The state recently set a safe drinking-water level for perchlorate at 6 parts per billion -- about the same as 6 drops of water in a pool. Perchlorate at 28 ppb was found a year ago in a well at Ahmanson Ranch, but the lab that conducted the test has since deemed it incorrect, Mikels said.

Trichloroethylene, a solvent also used at Rocketdyne, has been detected on a portion of the lab and is being cleaned up, said Art Lennox, an environmental specialist hired by Boeing.

A handful of property owners who could be affected by Parks’ proposal urged supervisors to reject it. Lands are already sufficiently monitored by county, state and federal agencies, said Wayne Fishbeck, who owns property in Box Canyon.

“This is just bad public policy,” Fishbeck said. “There are no conclusive tests to show contamination.... It would be bad precedent to impose [guidelines] on things that are suspected.”

Fishbeck and others said they were also worried about the costs of additional testing, estimated at $250 to $3,000. Fishbeck said he believed the costs would be significantly higher.

Two board members joined Parks in asking county environmental staff members to prepare a report.

Supervisor John Flynn and board Chairman Steve Bennett said there would be no harm in getting more information before making a final decision.

“It doesn’t seem very onerous,” Flynn said. “Why wouldn’t you want to do this? I think this is really necessary and I hope staff comes back with recommendations to implement this process.”