Hello, I am Nicole Nelson-Jean, Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary
for Field Operations at the Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management.
As the largest environmental cleanup program in the world, the Department of Energy's Office of
Environmental Management, or EM, is responsible for safely completing cleanup resulting from
decades of nuclear weapons development and government-sponsored nuclear energy research.
When EM was first established in 1989, it was responsible for the cleanup of 107 sites
in 35 states. Today, 16 sites remain, including the Energy Technology Engineering Center, or ETEC.
ETEC, is located in southern California, approximately 29 miles outside of Los Angeles,
and is part of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, or SSFL. Both have ceased operations in the 1980s.
The lab occupies 2,850 acres of hilly terrain near the crest of the Simi Hill. The SSFL
contains four discrete operational areas with two adjacent undeveloped properties. Boeing and NASA
run the cleanup efforts. The ETEC is a 90-acre site located in the Area IV of SSFL and here EM
leads and oversees the cleanup. Starting in 1948 activities at SSFL included research, development,
and testing of liquid fuel rocket engines and associated components. ETEC served as a tech hub
that supported the U.S. nuclear and space programs during the Cold War. From the 1950s
until the late 1980s, the DOE and its predecessor agencies conducted nuclear energy and liquid
metals research at the ETEC site. Phasing out nuclear operations began during the mid-1960s.
By 1980, all nuclear reactor operations in Area IV had ceased.
In 1988, DOE ended all research operations at ETEC. The DOE has been studying and
remediating ETEC for over 30 years. They used to have 270 structures in Area IV.
At the beginning of 2021, only six buildings remain at ETEC. From 2020 to 2030, site cleanup
will focus on demolishing the remaining DOE-owned buildings along with soil and groundwater cleanup.
EM s mission at ETEC is to make sure that the land that held the former tech hub is cleaned up
so that it is safe for future use. EM s building demolition at ETEC, expected to complete in 2021,
is the most recent milestone toward addressing the remaining contamination at the site and the
Department's final cleanup. To reach this milestone, EM demolished the final 18 aging
and contaminated structures in the last 18 months, removed materials with regulated chemicals first,
and disposed of that material in appropriate waste facilities. Remaining metal and concrete
debris was then transported off-site for disposal. The Department's recent demolition
went swiftly with safe outcomes. All demolition and transportation of debris was accomplished
at zero safety incidents in a manner that is protective of the public and the environment,
and that ensures the site remains safe for the surrounding communities. The removal
of these buildings allows better access to begin addressing groundwater and soil remediation. The
next step in the site's cleanup is to transition from interim to final groundwater remediation.
Right now, the highest chemical concentrations are being removed from wells. Groundwater monitoring
has been ongoing since 2006. In 2020, the DOE issued its Record of Decision for groundwater,
and now, DOE is collaborating with the regulators from the State of California to implement the
final groundwater cleanup. The investigation of contaminated soils at ETEC goes back to 1994.
The Environmental Protection Agency has examined 3,000 soil samples that gave the DOE
insights into cleanup alternatives. In its final technical memorandum, the EPA described the survey
as one of the most comprehensive radiological characterizations ever done for a site with
radiological contamination near background. The final cleanup of soils at the ETEC site
requires the DOE to issue a Record of Decision for soils, as well as reaching an agreement with the
state regulators. Over the next decade, the site will look quite different because of EM s work.
With many protected wildlife species and historic cultural artifacts at ETEC,
it is fitting that the end state of the site will be an open space habitat that preserves the land
as a wildlife corridor. Boeing, the landowner of the SSFL, has a conservation easement for
the site, which legally ensures the forever preservation and protection
of this unique and critical habitat, tribal cultural resources, and open space. At ETEC,
EM s ongoing cleanup efforts are improving safety and opening lands for future community use.