Radioactive emissions from a 1959 nuclear accident at a California research lab near Simi Valley appear to have been much greater than previously suspected and could have resulted in hundreds of cancers in surrounding communities, according to a study released Thursday.
Chemical contamination from ongoing rocket engine testing at the site continues to threaten soil and groundwater in the area around the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, the study also found.
The nuclear meltdown, which remained virtually unknown to the public until 1979, could have caused between 260 and 1,800 incidences of cancer “over a period of many decades,” the scientists who conducted the study concluded.
But the panel that oversaw the five-year study – conducted by an independent team of scientists and health experts – said it could not offer more specifics about potential exposure to carcinogens because the Department of Energy and the lab’s owner, Boeing Co., did not provide key information.
“This lack of candor … makes characterization of the potential health impacts of past accidents and releases extremely difficult,” the panel concluded.
Boeing officials vigorously disputed the findings, saying they were based on miscalculations and faulty information.
“We disagree entirely with the report’s conclusion,” said Phil Rutherford, a health, safety and radiation manager for the company. He cited a Boeing-commissioned study released last year that found overall cancer deaths among employees at its Simi Valley Rocketdyne lab and Canoga Park facilities between 1949 and 1999 were lower than in the general population.
