Community members gathered at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) on April 6 for a public site tour, the final event of the 2024 Groundwater University series.
Office of Environmental Management
April 9, 2024
minute read time
Josh Mengers, left, EM’s federal project director for the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC), talks about the Hazardous Materials Storage Area and a pilot study for in-situ treatment for the contaminated groundwater in EM’s portion of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, known as ETEC, during an April 6 site tour as part of Groundwater University.
SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — Community members gathered at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) on April 6 for a public site tour, the final event of the 2024 Groundwater University series.
The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), in cooperation with the Boeing Company, NASA and DOE EM, hosted the education workshop series called Groundwater U. The goal of the workshops and tour was to educate stakeholders about groundwater at SSFL and prepare community members to review and comment on future groundwater decision documents from the laboratory.
SSFL is a 2,850-acre former rocket engine testing and energy research facility located in southeastern Ventura County. DOE conducted research and development, including leading-edge nuclear, solar and sodium reactor technology, on a 290-acre portion of the SSFL known as the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC) in Area IV.
EM is charged with cleanup of residual contamination that remains in DOE’s portion of the ETEC site. The cleanup program completed demolition of buildings there in 2022 and is currently working with DTSC on final groundwater and soil cleanup plans.
During the April 6 Groundwater University site tour at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, Josh Mengers, right, EM’s federal project director for the Energy Technology Engineering Center, and Ryan Wymore of EM contractor CDM Smith show an educational model using rice and purple water, dyed from boiled cabbage leaves, to demonstrate the movement of contaminants in the groundwater and explain how in-situ treatment would work.
Research into the nature and extent of groundwater contamination at ETEC started in 1987. It involves analyzing groundwater from more than 600 wells, investigating the nature of the groundwater system through a series of aquifer tests, mapping of the geology of Simi Hills, and identifying and sampling seeps and springs.
During the Groundwater U site tour, Josh Mengers, EM’s federal project director for ETEC, and Ryan Wymore of EM contractor CDM Smith met with about 50 community members to discuss some of the new investigation techniques being used to collect data on the fractured bedrock and groundwater at Santa Susana.
Standing where the Hazardous Materials Storage Area used to be, the tour group talked about some of EM’s cleanup activities and groundwater interim measures, including the installation of a solar-powered automated pumping system and a pilot study on an in-situ biological and chemical oxidation treatment. Mengers showed an educational model using rice and purple water, dyed from boiled cabbage leaves, to demonstrate the movement of contaminants in the groundwater and explain how in-situ treatment would work.
Boeing and NASA also participated in the site tour, taking the community members to a handful of stops on each of their portions of SSFL to discuss groundwater and their treatment and pilot studies.
Josh Mengers, right, EM’s federal project director for the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC), answers questions from community members about rock core samples excavated from EM’s portion of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, known as ETEC, during an April 6 site tour as part of Groundwater University.
Groundwater U kicked off Jan. 23 with a community listening session focused on groundwater at SSFL. The session helped DTSC ensure the series content was tailored to community interests.
Matt Becker, a professor and Conrey Endowed chair of hydrogeology in the Earth Science Department at California State University, Long Beach, presented an overview of groundwater and hydrogeology, including what groundwater is and how it moves, during the first session on Feb. 20.
The second session on March 12 built on the first workshop, with Beth Parker and John Cherry discussing where groundwater contamination is at SSFL, a geologic formation called the Chatsworth formation and the transport of contaminants. More than 100 people attended the workshop to listen to the presentation and ask questions of DTSC, Boeing, and Parker and Cherry, who are professors at the University of Guelph in Canada and part of the SSFL groundwater advisory panels.
At the final workshop on April 4, representatives from DTSC, EM, NASA and Boeing discussed groundwater treatment options studied at SSFL, as well as groundwater interim measures, and pilot tests and treatability studies. More than 60 people attended the third workshop.
More information about Groundwater U, including recordings of past sessions and materials, can be found at DTSC’s SSFL webpage. And click here for information about EM’s work at Santa Susana.
-Contributor: Melissa Simon
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