The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) is overseeing chemical cleanup activities at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) Site. These cleanup, or corrective action activities, are being conducted under the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RCRA) of 1980 and the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984. RCRA was implemented to address facilities that treat or store hazardous substances as part of normal past or present facility operations.
Under RCRA, permits may be issued for currently operating facilities which treat or store hazardous substances, or actions may be taken to cleanup contamination from past operations. These cleanup actions follow a process known as the Corrective Action Process.
Under the Corrective Action Process, DTSC requires the facility to:
- Determine the type of release and the extent of the chemical contamination
- Identify cleanup alternatives that will protect human health and the environment
- Initiate cleanup of the contamination
Under RCRA, some of the important highlights during the environmental cleanup are:
- Preliminary investigation of site history and sampling, including RCRA Facility Assessment (RFA) to identify contaminants of concern and RCRA Facility Investigation (RFI) to determine nature and extent of contamination
- Human and Ecological Risk Assessments to evaluate potential risks to human health and the environment
- Corrective Measures Study to develop and evaluate appropriate cleanup alternatives/remedies and statement of basis to support DTSC’s proposed remedy
- California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) study to evaluate potential environmental impacts of proposed cleanup
- Final Remedy Selection which considers public comment and determines the cleanup remedy
- Implementation of remedy
- Completion of cleanup action
At any point in the RCRA Corrective Action process DTSC may determine that more immediate cleanup measures (typically short-term actions) are necessary to protect the public and the environment from further exposure or contamination. These measures are known as interim measure.
At the SSFL an RFI is currently being conducted. Several Interim Measures have also been implemented. Please see the Site Activities pages for more information.
DTSC is committed to public involvement throughout all phases of the corrective action process. For additional information on public involvement, see Public Involvement Activities.
