From my generation to yours: Kids trying to take care of an old mess.

By Robin Estrin
Teens Against Toxins

March 12, 2010
 

For more than 50 years, a huge tract of land near my home in Southern California has been contaminated with radioactive material and toxic chemicals. Now Boeing has begun pursuing a lawsuit to rid itself of its legal responsibility to clean up its mess.

First of all, let me just say, I get it. I realize that Boeing is in it for the money; a big company has a lot of pressure from shareholders to turn a profit. That $68 billion in revenue Boeing took in last year doesn't go as far as it used to.

Now, please, try and look at it from my point of view. I have to live here, only miles from the contamination site. When my teammates practice lacrosse three times a week at our park, we have to worry about the safety of the air we breathe and the soil we play on.

A nuclear accident at an old Rocketdyne facility in the Simi Hills northwest of Los Angeles took place in 1959, but its effects are only now starting to come to light. A scientific study showed that a group of Rocketdyne’s Santa Susana Field Lab workers who were more exposed to chemicals and radiation had a much higher death rate from cancer than those with less exposure. One horrible kind of cancer called retinoblastoma that attacks the eyes of young children, has been cropping up around here at an abnormally high rate.

I wish I could say the spill was the only problem that needs addressing, but the damage done at the Rocketdyne facility extends much further. Throughout the 1950s up until the 1980s and possibly beyond, workers used a toxic chemical called trichloroethylene (TCE) to clean the rockets that were built there. The solvent, a known carcinogen, has harmed the air, water, and soil, some of which can and should be cleaned up. Also, toxic waste has been burned in open air pits and dumped into the ground, causing unforgivable environmental damage. Boeing became owner of the property 14 years ago and took over cleanup.

Some people say not enough testing has been done to prove that our cancer clusters are a result of the reactor meltdown and toxic spills that came after it. Is that really a question that Boeing officials are comfortable living with? All legality aside, they must have some sense of moral obligation to their fellow citizens and neighbors, not to mention their very own workers. Crazy little thing, that human conscience is.

Earlier in the month, my friends and I, the "Teens Against Toxins," held a bake sale on Boeing’s behalf. Our intention was to raise money for the poor, struggling company to aid it in the "clean up Rocketdyne fund" that Boeing may or may not have already started. We raised a whopping $99.31, collecting pocket money and spare change from the children of our neighborhood. It seems silly doesn't it? Children raising money for a company as big as Boeing?

We then proceeded to deliver a check to the Boeing headquarters located near the contamination site, only to be rejected and turned away.

We made a YouTube video of the whole thing, called Bake Sale Meltdown. Fear not, the money will be donated to a local children's hospital, specializing in cancer treatment.

I hope Boeing will reconsider its decision to blow off the clean-up process and leave the dangerous environment for my generation to deal with. Boeing needs to shed some light on whether they’re on board with this; after all we're just a bunch of kids trying to take care of some old folks’ mess.

Have a good one, Boeing, you'll be hearing from us again.
 

Editor's Note: Boeing has invited Estrin and the other Teens Against Toxins to meet with them, as well as officials from the Department of Energy, NASA and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, at the Santa Susana site on Monday, March 15.