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Workplace Radiation
is responsible for more than one quarter of Rocketdyne worker deaths, (27.3%).
This fact is detailed in the UCLA study of Rocketdyne workers published in 1997, and remains
unbeknownst to residents of neighborhoods and communities adjacent and surrounding the Santa Susana Field Lab,
(SSFL).
The cancers and illnesses which killed the workers were caused by cumulative exposure to low-level radiation
at the work site according to UCLA'S report.
The Rocketdyne workers at the Santa Susana site were known to have inhaled and/or ingested radioactive particles on site
during their shifts throughout the years they remained employed there before getting cancer and dying from them; their deaths caused by exposure
to radionuclides during their years of employment at the open field lab.
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It is important to remember, that the
Santa Susana Field Lab is an open field lab and the testing areas consist of a non-contained nuclear, rocket, and missile
testing facilities.
Surviving workers from the Rocketdyne Lab have a cancer risk greater than eight (8) times than that which has been shown
by previous research published prior to the 1997 UCLA Rocketdyne Worker Health Study.
Also, the study states that the workers have a much higher than expected death rate from
leukemia, lung, and bladder cancers, among others.
Inhalation of low-level radionuclides over a long period of time, accumulates in the system until it is demonstrated
by the gestation and then the occurrence of the malignancy. Many cancers, including cancers of the thyroid gland have a gestation period
from four (4) to twenty (20) years or longer.
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Many cancers of the thyroid gland, including other diseases of the thyroid such as Hashimoto's and Grave's disease, are caused
by radiation, trichloroethylene,and perchlorate exposure as well as exposure to other contaminants discovered at the SSFL site. The studies of the victims and residents near the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor blast which occurred in 1986
have shown researchers of the medical neccessity of monitoring over 1,800 (eighteen-hundred) children for the rest of their lives,
as they have already developed thyroid cancers.
Comparison of medical data of the population surrounding the Chernobyl blast have shown that there were no thyroid cancers
diagnosed in children prior to the blast in April,1986.
Thyroid cancers and thyroid diseases generally have a long gestation period, and are not easily diagnosed. A thyroid cancer may have
spread to the lymph nodes, liver, or lungs, before it may appear as a large enough lump to be visible as a goiter. Difficulty breathing
swallowing, persistent coughing, hoarseness, change of voice and intolerance of heat are some of the symptoms of thyroid disease; consult with a physician if you have symptoms or concerns regarding thyroid disease/disorder or cancer.
Radionuclides may have been released during the recent June fires near and adjacent to the Santa Susana Field Lab, (11 June, 2000).
These blazes burned more than 800, (eight hundred) acres within the Bell Canyon, Parker, Sage, and Ahmanson Ranches, as well as portions
of the Santa Susana Mountain Range.
More than 200, (200) firefighters worked to contain the fires which came within one (1) mile of the
Rocketdyne/Boeing Santa Susana Field Lab, (SSFL). Readers must be made aware of the fact that water used from the Rocketdyne Silver Nale
Holding Pond to extinguish the blazes came from Outfall #02 near Bell Canyon, and that is water that has been discovered to be contaminated
with radioactive and non-radiactive hazardous toxic wastes. The Agency for Toxic Substance Disease Registry, (ATSDR),
noted their concern about the potential of deep fracture flow contamination from the SSFL contaminated water, and expressed concern
about the level of contaminants found in water from Outfall #02 in their preliminary draft of 03, December, 1999.
Inhalation of radionuclides has been found to be responsible for more than one quarter of Rocketdyne's
Worker deaths, and it is also important to remember that residents of it's surrounding communities do not have the protection
that is available to Workers on site at a controlled workplace environment. Residents were never notified
of the activities taking place at the open field lab, nor were they ever notified of the nuclear materials
used during spills, accidents or releases.
Residents have not performed their daily activities while wearing protective clothing
and although Rocketdyne Workers wore protective clothing, more than one quarter of the workers deaths were caused by onsite cumulative radiation
poisoning. Whether or not firefighters working against the recent June blaze in the Santa Susana area wore protective clothing or were notified of the source of water
used from Rocketdyne's contaminated holding pond remains unknown to date.
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