Progress Toward Cleanup Continues at Energy Technology Engineering Center

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — Approval for an innovative groundwater pilot study, completion of ongoing soil sampling and submission of demolition work plans to state regulators are all part of the recent progress toward cleanup at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC) at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL).

SSFL is a 2,850-acre former rocket engine and nuclear research facility comprised of four operational areas. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) is charged with remediation in Area IV, where ETEC previously operated.

In July, the California State Water Resources Control Board approved a permit for a pilot study at ETEC’s Hazardous Materials Storage Area.

The in-situ, or in-place, study is an innovative remediation approach that uses biological and chemical reduction to treat contaminated groundwater, said Josh Mengers, EM’s federal project director for ETEC.

The pilot will be a small-scale study that involves injecting biological and chemical amendments into separate wells to create a reductive environment and stimulate natural degradation of the contaminants present. EM will then monitor the progress over time.

“We’re conducting this pilot on a small scale because we want to understand the sphere of influence these amendments will have on the contaminants,” Mengers said, adding that using two types of amendments will hopefully create a more robust treatment with two degradation mechanisms happening.

“We’re not proposing that this is going to be the solution, but we’re testing it out to see how well it works,” he said.

The pilot study is just one groundwater interim measure EM has been conducting at ETEC.

Pumping groundwater manually has taken place at the Former Sodium Disposal Facility since 2017, and in May 2024, an automated pump system became operational. To date, more than 67,000 gallons of contaminated groundwater have been removed both manually and automatically.