Who would have thought that a handful of pediatric cancer parents in a quiet suburb, with no budget and broken hearts, would be able to challenge the corruption of Boeing, NASA and the Department of Energy? Years ago, I couldn’t have imagined it, but that’s exactly what we’ve done and what we’re doing. But it wouldn’t have been possible without you and the 700,000 other petition signers who have joined us in our fight for the full cleanup of the Santa Susana Field Lab (SSFL). 

You’ve given us the tools and support we’ve needed, because like us, you hate children getting cancer, especially if the cancer could have been prevented. And we know that getting a complete cleanup of the SSFL is the only way to guarantee that our children aren’t being exposed to cancer causing waste every time it rains, or when the wind blows, or during a wildfire.

We’ve made it farther than I had ever imagined. I truly believe that in 2020 we will get Boeing, NASA and the Dept. of Energy to stop their illegal and dangerous plans to leave up to 100% of their waste in our community. We’ve been loud and clear that it’s unacceptable for them to put profit over people’s lives, and the powers that be are listening.

2019 Highlights:

• We advocated in Washington DC and were able to obtain a letter from 8 Californian congressmembers and a senator pushing the polluters for a full clean up of the SSFL.
• Our petition grew by over 100,000 new supporters 
  Kim and Kourtney Kardashian, who’ve tweeted their support for the cleanup, met with CA Senator Henry Stern, and featured us on their TV show. (Season 17, episode 10)
• We hosted a 60th anniversary commemoration of the SSFL 1959 meltdown, in which 200 community members attended and painted memorial rocks.
• We met with California’s head of EPA, Jared Blumenfeld, who later shared my story on his award-winning podcast, Podship Earth, episode “Amazing Grace.”
• Our SSFL cleanup efforts were mentioned in over 24 news articles.
• We advocated for the City of Los Angeles to fund a retainer for legal counsel should the Department of Energy break it’s cleanup agreements – essentially committing to challenging any attempt to shirk their cleanup obligations..
• Community members submitted comments telling NASA it must keep its commitment to the 100% cleanup
• We organized the collection and delivery of soil and dust samples for radiological testing following the 2018 Woolsey Fire, which started on the SSFL.
• We protested Boeing’s Earth Day Hike, warning unsuspecting hikers that the Santa Susana Field Lab trails were highly contaminated 
• Met with city council members in the surrounding communities to update them on developments with the SSFL clean up. 
• Our Facebook and Youtube channel videos had over 45,000 views.  

Thank you for all your support this year!

Melissa