I was one of those kids who idolized NASA. I was ten years old when my family and I woke up before dawn to watch the space shuttle land at the Edwards Airforce Base. We bundled up and sat watching in the dark sky for what felt like hours. Then just as the sun began to rise we saw it, a small glimmer of metal that grew by the second. The crowds began to cheer as it landed, the excitement tangible. It was one of the most important memories of my childhood.

So you can understand why I was especially crushed when I read the Progress Report from NASA, who owns part of the Santa Susana Field Lab. They wrote that they do not intend to honor their legal AOC agreement to completely cleanup the site.

NASA claims that such a costly cleanup is unnecessary to meet the stringent AOC standards because “the funds could be put to better use.” What better use is there than protecting our families’ health?

NASA’s report went on to express concern that the cleanup would harm the flora and fauna (that they ruined with toxic chemicals and radiation) and that the 100% cleanup would “harm the aesthetic value of the site.”

What about our children getting sick with autoimmune diseases, thyroid conditions and cancer? There is nothing they could have said more painful or insulting.

The report said NASA would instead turn the site into a park (while leaving up to 98% of the contamination on site permanently) and they wanted the cleanup to just be enough to protect the hikers who would only be there for an hour or two a week. But we live directly under the hills of the site, which had multiple nuclear accidents, a plutonium fuel facility, chemical burn pits, and where 500,000 gallons of TCE were dumped into the ground...we don’t hike there for a few hours a week. We live here every day.

But here’s the good news. The Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC) sent a letter to NASA rejecting their proposal for a less protective cleanup. You might remember that up until a few months ago, the DTSC also supported the recklessly dangerous cleanup standards that the Department of Energy and Boeing proposed. But under the Newsom Administration, I believe there’s change beginning to happen in the DTSC, and I welcome it.

I believe that NASA can return to their good standing with our community if they reverse course and honor their legal AOC commitments and champion the full cleanup to protect our families. California Senator Dianne Feinstein has the power to hold polluters like NASA and the DOE accountable – she sits on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee and is Vice Chair of the Sub-committee on Energy and Water. There will be an appropriations meeting soon. Please call today to ask Senator Feinstein to push for the 100% cleanup. Call her office today: (202) 224-3841 or (310) 914-7300.

Sample script:

Hello, my name is ____________ and I'm very concerned that the Department of Energy and NASA recently announced that they intend to break out of their legal agreements to fully clean the Santa Susana Field Lab. Without Senator Feinstein’s help we will not get the complete cleanup and the polluters will instead leave as much as 98% of the contamination on site.

I urge Senator Feinstein to add provisions to NASA and the Department of Energy’s appropriations to ensure that they comply with the legal AOC cleanup agreement that they signed with the state of California in 2010. The radioactive and toxic site still poses a threat to the people who live nearby (optional “like my family”) and the polluters must be held accountable.

Thank you.