1
00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000
Downloaded from
YTS.MX

2
00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000
Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

3
00:00:13,246 --> 00:00:15,114
Woman: To let a
former Boeing consultant

4
00:00:15,182 --> 00:00:16,316
on your board have influence
over these matters

5
00:00:16,383 --> 00:00:18,184
is of huge concern to me.

6
00:00:18,252 --> 00:00:20,186
And to let Boeing continue
to pollute, and get away with

7
00:00:20,254 --> 00:00:22,387
failing to adhere to the
Clean-up Agreement is wrong.

8
00:00:22,456 --> 00:00:24,990
To fail to protect
our water source is wrong.

9
00:00:25,059 --> 00:00:26,592
Thank you.

10
00:00:32,166 --> 00:00:33,665
Bumstead: Hi. My name
is Melissa Bumstead.

11
00:00:33,734 --> 00:00:34,801
I've live --
it's okay. Thank you.

12
00:00:34,868 --> 00:00:36,602
I live in West Hills.

13
00:00:36,670 --> 00:00:38,670
I'm the mom who started
the change.org petition

14
00:00:38,739 --> 00:00:41,440
that now has
over 600,000 signatures,

15
00:00:41,508 --> 00:00:43,575
for the full cleanup of
the Santa Susanna Field Lab.

16
00:00:43,577 --> 00:00:45,411
You're going to hear
a lot today.

17
00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:47,145
We've got a lot of facts.
We know the facts.

18
00:00:47,214 --> 00:00:49,248
We're all
intelligent people, here.

19
00:00:49,316 --> 00:00:52,717
But I think what is lacking is
courage to do the right thing.

20
00:00:52,786 --> 00:00:55,954
And so, I wanted to bring you
my daughter's beads of courage.

21
00:00:56,023 --> 00:00:58,691
My daughter is a two-time cancer
survivor at 9 years old.

22
00:00:58,759 --> 00:01:01,728
[ Giggling ]

23
00:01:01,795 --> 00:01:03,762
Can you do it?
Achoo!

24
00:01:03,764 --> 00:01:06,165
-Hachoo.
-Achoo.

25
00:01:06,167 --> 00:01:07,365
[ Giggles ]

26
00:01:07,434 --> 00:01:09,234
Would you like to go
to Disneyland today?

27
00:01:09,303 --> 00:01:11,036
-Yeah!
-Okay.

28
00:01:11,104 --> 00:01:12,437
Bumstead:
Let's go to Disneyland.

29
00:01:12,439 --> 00:01:14,372
Oh, yeah!

30
00:01:14,442 --> 00:01:15,941
Are you gonna
come, too?

31
00:01:15,943 --> 00:01:16,975
Man: I'm coming, too.

32
00:01:17,044 --> 00:01:19,511
Oh, yeah!

33
00:01:19,581 --> 00:01:21,079
Bumstead: She earned
all these beads

34
00:01:21,148 --> 00:01:23,982
through her cancer
treatment program.

35
00:01:23,984 --> 00:01:25,917
Each bead represents
something different.

36
00:01:25,919 --> 00:01:28,086
For example,
red represents

37
00:01:28,155 --> 00:01:30,322
when she had a blood
transfusion,

38
00:01:30,324 --> 00:01:32,390
black when she got poked
with a needle,

39
00:01:32,459 --> 00:01:35,894
yellow for inpatient stays,
white for chemotherapy.

40
00:01:37,397 --> 00:01:41,667
[ Babbbling ]

41
00:01:41,669 --> 00:01:44,469
This is what she earned
the first month.

42
00:01:44,471 --> 00:01:46,004
I'd like to share with you
what she has earned

43
00:01:46,073 --> 00:01:49,341
over the last two times
fighting cancer.

44
00:02:02,689 --> 00:02:06,358
A few of the photos I just want
to fly through real quick.

45
00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:10,296
Just some of the children
that we've met who are local.

46
00:02:10,364 --> 00:02:12,464
I went to camp with this
little boy last weekend.

47
00:02:12,466 --> 00:02:14,166
He's about to lose
his second eye.

48
00:02:14,168 --> 00:02:18,169
This little boy
has a T-cell leukemia.

49
00:02:18,239 --> 00:02:21,139
He's doing alright.
He's in remission.

50
00:02:21,208 --> 00:02:24,910
We've had several
who have passed away.

51
00:02:24,912 --> 00:02:27,846
We need you to step in,
and protect us,

52
00:02:27,915 --> 00:02:29,315
and protect
our children.

53
00:02:31,418 --> 00:02:32,517
Do the right thing.

54
00:02:32,519 --> 00:02:33,752
Thank you.

55
00:02:35,722 --> 00:02:36,888
Woman: Thank you.

56
00:02:36,890 --> 00:02:44,529
¶¶

57
00:02:44,598 --> 00:02:52,171
¶¶

58
00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:59,911
¶¶

59
00:02:59,980 --> 00:03:07,619
¶¶

60
00:03:07,688 --> 00:03:15,294
¶¶

61
00:03:15,362 --> 00:03:23,034
¶¶

62
00:03:23,103 --> 00:03:30,709
¶¶

63
00:03:30,777 --> 00:03:31,844
Hi.

64
00:03:31,912 --> 00:03:37,984
¶¶

65
00:03:38,051 --> 00:03:44,189
¶¶

66
00:03:44,258 --> 00:03:50,262
¶¶

67
00:03:50,331 --> 00:03:53,031
Bumstead:
My daughter, Grace Ellen,
had just turned 4 years old

68
00:03:53,100 --> 00:03:57,870
when we found bruises
all over her body.

69
00:03:57,938 --> 00:04:00,472
Took her to the pediatrician,
and quickly found out

70
00:04:00,474 --> 00:04:03,875
that she had an incredibly rare
and aggressive form

71
00:04:03,944 --> 00:04:06,745
of childhood leukemia.

72
00:04:06,813 --> 00:04:11,417
¶¶

73
00:04:11,485 --> 00:04:15,688
She had a 20%
survival rate.

74
00:04:15,756 --> 00:04:18,357
She really endured a lot
of suffering that first year.

75
00:04:18,359 --> 00:04:21,226
Princess flying experiment,
take two.

76
00:04:21,228 --> 00:04:23,295
And then,
she had a year and a half

77
00:04:23,363 --> 00:04:26,865
of just wonderful,
cancer-free childhood.

78
00:04:26,933 --> 00:04:28,434
[ Cheering ]

79
00:04:28,502 --> 00:04:29,902
[ Bell ringing ]

80
00:04:29,970 --> 00:04:31,169
[ Cheering ]

81
00:04:31,171 --> 00:04:35,874
¶¶

82
00:04:35,943 --> 00:04:38,444
And then,
Gracie's cancer relapsed,

83
00:04:38,512 --> 00:04:39,778
and it came back.

84
00:04:39,846 --> 00:04:44,582
¶¶

85
00:04:44,651 --> 00:04:49,255
¶¶

86
00:04:49,323 --> 00:04:56,661
Hammersley: It was April 2013,
and my daughter, Hazel, was 2.

87
00:04:56,663 --> 00:05:02,934
And I was noticing that
she was not quite herself.

88
00:05:02,936 --> 00:05:04,269
And I kept calling
the doctors,

89
00:05:04,337 --> 00:05:07,273
but everybody was going,
"Probably just the flu."

90
00:05:07,341 --> 00:05:09,641
And I turned to my husband,
and I said, "My mommy instincts

91
00:05:09,710 --> 00:05:11,343
are telling me
that something's really wrong."

92
00:05:11,412 --> 00:05:13,846
I said, "I don't know why,
but I think she has cancer."

93
00:05:15,682 --> 00:05:18,149
They performed
some bloodwork tests,

94
00:05:18,218 --> 00:05:20,185
and then, an ultrasound.

95
00:05:20,254 --> 00:05:25,891
After several days of tests,
we knew it was neuroblastoma.

96
00:05:25,893 --> 00:05:27,959
Alright, Hazel,
you ready to play Simon Says?

97
00:05:28,029 --> 00:05:29,027
-Yeah!
-Okay.

98
00:05:29,096 --> 00:05:31,964
Simon says
touch your nose.

99
00:05:32,032 --> 00:05:34,367
Simon says
touch your head.

100
00:05:34,434 --> 00:05:37,135
Simon says
touch your mouth.

101
00:05:37,204 --> 00:05:39,104
Simon says
touch your ears.

102
00:05:39,172 --> 00:05:41,841
Simon says
blow a kiss.

103
00:05:41,908 --> 00:05:45,578
Simon says says "I love you."
-I love you.

104
00:05:45,645 --> 00:05:48,214
Simon says sing
"Twinkle Twinkle."

105
00:05:48,281 --> 00:05:52,283
Hazel [Singing]:
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

106
00:05:52,352 --> 00:05:58,357
¶¶

107
00:05:58,426 --> 00:06:01,526
[ Bell ringing ]

108
00:06:01,528 --> 00:06:03,195
[ Cheering ]

109
00:06:08,101 --> 00:06:11,002
Hammersley:
Hazel was in remission
for two and a half years.

110
00:06:11,004 --> 00:06:14,005
I beat cancer!

111
00:06:14,075 --> 00:06:15,707
Yay!

112
00:06:17,210 --> 00:06:20,245
In 2016, she relapsed.

113
00:06:24,084 --> 00:06:26,818
Bumstead: Good job.

114
00:06:26,887 --> 00:06:29,555
The first time
Grace had cancer,

115
00:06:29,623 --> 00:06:32,924
we lived over 100 days
that first year

116
00:06:32,993 --> 00:06:34,860
at Children's Hospital
of Los Angeles.

117
00:06:38,599 --> 00:06:41,366
How cool is that?

118
00:06:41,435 --> 00:06:42,468
Yeah.

119
00:06:42,535 --> 00:06:44,569
And as we were
meeting families,

120
00:06:44,638 --> 00:06:46,272
we'd just casually ask you,
"Oh, where are you from?"

121
00:06:46,339 --> 00:06:48,474
That's exactly what happened
with the Bumstead family.

122
00:06:48,541 --> 00:06:52,076
They were at the hospital
the same time that we were,

123
00:06:52,145 --> 00:06:54,446
and then, Grace,
her daughter, and Hazel,

124
00:06:54,515 --> 00:06:56,714
like, immediately
became friends.

125
00:06:56,783 --> 00:06:58,784
They're so similar
in so many ways.

126
00:06:58,852 --> 00:07:01,586
And so, it just felt great
to have that connection.

127
00:07:01,655 --> 00:07:05,056
[Singing]
Happy birthday to you.

128
00:07:05,125 --> 00:07:08,594
Happy birthday to you.

129
00:07:08,662 --> 00:07:13,064
Happy birthday
dear Gracie.

130
00:07:13,133 --> 00:07:15,400
And we found out
that we lived

131
00:07:15,469 --> 00:07:17,602
within 20 minutes
of each other.

132
00:07:17,604 --> 00:07:18,803
And I kept meeting
other families,

133
00:07:18,872 --> 00:07:20,438
and they'd say,
"Oh, how about that?

134
00:07:20,507 --> 00:07:23,275
We just let you, know around,
the corner, two blocks over,

135
00:07:23,343 --> 00:07:26,144
as the bird flies,
3 miles, 5 miles."

136
00:07:26,212 --> 00:07:28,813
And then, several other moms
and dads in Simi Valley,

137
00:07:28,815 --> 00:07:30,616
in West Hills,
in Thousand Oaks.

138
00:07:30,684 --> 00:07:34,118
And we were really, at the time,
just thankful for it.

139
00:07:34,187 --> 00:07:36,754
But I think, as time went on,
we were going, "Wait a second."

140
00:07:36,823 --> 00:07:41,092
Like "How is it that so many
of us who live nearby?"

141
00:07:41,161 --> 00:07:42,961
We're going to Children's
Hospital of Los Angeles,

142
00:07:43,029 --> 00:07:44,229
a world-renowned hospital.

143
00:07:44,297 --> 00:07:45,897
People are coming
from all over the world

144
00:07:45,966 --> 00:07:47,365
to come there
for treatment,

145
00:07:47,434 --> 00:07:50,702
and yet, we're meeting people
that live on our street.

146
00:07:50,704 --> 00:07:55,240
I just kept pushing back
against my own mental red flags.

147
00:07:55,308 --> 00:07:57,408
And so, I met a family
that said,

148
00:07:57,477 --> 00:07:59,244
"Oh, we live on
your street."

149
00:07:59,246 --> 00:08:01,045
And granted,
we live on a long boulevard.

150
00:08:01,114 --> 00:08:02,013
It's 3 miles.

151
00:08:02,082 --> 00:08:03,748
But they lived
on our street.

152
00:08:03,818 --> 00:08:08,186
And she said, "And my neighbor
had the same exact brain cancer

153
00:08:08,255 --> 00:08:10,054
that my son had."

154
00:08:10,123 --> 00:08:11,489
And there were
two of them.

155
00:08:11,558 --> 00:08:15,326
Neighbors, plus my daughter,
that's three on the same street.

156
00:08:15,395 --> 00:08:20,733
So, I panicked,
and I set up a Facebook group

157
00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:21,967
for all the local
cancer parents.

158
00:08:22,035 --> 00:08:24,936
And we started mapping
ourselves out by Google Maps.

159
00:08:25,005 --> 00:08:27,573
And for a long time,
we couldn't find the connection.

160
00:08:27,641 --> 00:08:29,340
We couldn't see
what was going on.

161
00:08:29,409 --> 00:08:32,043
But we could tell that
there were too many of us.

162
00:08:32,045 --> 00:08:34,079
And it was about
a year after that

163
00:08:34,081 --> 00:08:35,980
that someone mentioned,
for the first time,

164
00:08:36,049 --> 00:08:37,248
the Santa Susanna
Field Lab.

165
00:08:37,317 --> 00:08:38,383
I had never
heard of it.

166
00:08:38,452 --> 00:08:41,286
We'd already lived here
for seven years.

167
00:08:41,354 --> 00:08:43,154
We all had to start
wrestling with the fact that

168
00:08:43,223 --> 00:08:46,157
maybe our children's cancers
could have been avoided.

169
00:08:46,226 --> 00:08:49,127
Many other children
were in danger.

170
00:08:49,195 --> 00:08:51,663
Maybe our government
hadn't protected us

171
00:08:51,665 --> 00:08:53,332
the way that
they should have.

172
00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:55,633
And maybe our whole community
had been hiding

173
00:08:55,702 --> 00:08:57,335
this giant secret.

174
00:09:03,043 --> 00:09:08,647
¶¶

175
00:09:08,649 --> 00:09:14,219
¶¶

176
00:09:14,221 --> 00:09:19,724
¶¶

177
00:09:19,793 --> 00:09:22,394
Hirsch: Awareness breeds
compassion,

178
00:09:22,462 --> 00:09:25,297
and compassion
leads to right action.

179
00:09:27,734 --> 00:09:30,435
That is what
we're missing.

180
00:09:30,503 --> 00:09:35,206
¶¶

181
00:09:35,208 --> 00:09:36,474
I'm Daniel Hirsch.

182
00:09:36,543 --> 00:09:38,510
I'm president of the Committee
to Bridge the Gap,

183
00:09:38,579 --> 00:09:41,679
and I recently retired
as the director

184
00:09:41,748 --> 00:09:45,216
of the Program on Environmental
and Nuclear Policy

185
00:09:45,285 --> 00:09:47,385
at the University of California,
Santa Cruz.

186
00:09:47,454 --> 00:09:50,222
¶¶

187
00:09:50,290 --> 00:09:51,422
Duffield:
My name is Denise Duffield.

188
00:09:51,491 --> 00:09:52,690
I'm the associate director

189
00:09:52,759 --> 00:09:56,195
for Physicians for Social
Responsibility, Los Angeles.

190
00:09:56,262 --> 00:09:59,298
In the mid to late 1940s,
the U.S. government

191
00:09:59,366 --> 00:10:02,233
was trying to find a location
in Southern California

192
00:10:02,302 --> 00:10:05,036
to do nuclear reactor
development testing,

193
00:10:05,105 --> 00:10:06,272
and also rocket testing.

194
00:10:06,339 --> 00:10:09,641
The field lab was originally
selected as a location

195
00:10:09,709 --> 00:10:11,576
to be away
from populated areas,

196
00:10:11,644 --> 00:10:13,978
because they knew they were
going to be doing research

197
00:10:14,047 --> 00:10:16,014
that could be
potentially dangerous.

198
00:10:16,082 --> 00:10:18,150
Hirsch: They did
a marvelous study

199
00:10:18,218 --> 00:10:21,853
to determine what would be
the least dangerous place

200
00:10:21,855 --> 00:10:23,788
to put a reactor
testing facility.

201
00:10:23,857 --> 00:10:26,525
And the Santa Susanna facility
ranked very poorly.

202
00:10:26,593 --> 00:10:28,761
They were concerned that
any radioactivity

203
00:10:28,828 --> 00:10:32,597
that was released could readily
get to populated areas nearby.

204
00:10:32,665 --> 00:10:35,500
They chose to site
in Santa Susanna anyway.

205
00:10:35,502 --> 00:10:37,702
Duffield: Santa Susanna ranked
fifth or sixth

206
00:10:37,771 --> 00:10:39,971
because of the
meteorological conditions.

207
00:10:40,039 --> 00:10:40,940
But it was
selected anyway,

208
00:10:41,007 --> 00:10:43,876
because of the driving time
to UCLA.

209
00:10:43,943 --> 00:10:46,077
At the time that
the Santa Susanna facility

210
00:10:46,146 --> 00:10:48,679
was established,
there was relatively low

211
00:10:48,749 --> 00:10:50,581
population density
around it.

212
00:10:50,650 --> 00:10:53,351
Man:
This is a quiet place.

213
00:10:53,420 --> 00:10:56,421
The atom at work for peace
is quiet.

214
00:10:56,489 --> 00:10:59,191
So, over the years,
they built 10 nuclear reactors

215
00:10:59,259 --> 00:11:01,659
and plutonium fuel
fabrication facility,

216
00:11:01,661 --> 00:11:02,828
which took plutonium --

217
00:11:02,896 --> 00:11:04,029
the most dangerous material
on Earth --

218
00:11:04,097 --> 00:11:06,497
and made nuclear fuel
out of it.

219
00:11:06,499 --> 00:11:09,934
And a hot lab,
in which they shift in

220
00:11:09,936 --> 00:11:13,237
irradiated nuclear fuel
to be cut apart.

221
00:11:13,306 --> 00:11:14,739
None of those reactors,
by the way,

222
00:11:14,741 --> 00:11:16,407
had a containment
structure.

223
00:11:16,476 --> 00:11:19,577
Those domes that you associate
with the power plants,

224
00:11:19,646 --> 00:11:21,446
they were just
regular rooms.

225
00:11:21,514 --> 00:11:24,049
The most well-known of those
is a reactor

226
00:11:24,117 --> 00:11:26,384
what's called
the "Sodium Reactor Experiment."

227
00:11:26,453 --> 00:11:28,953
Man: SRE --
the Sodium Reactor Experiment --

228
00:11:28,955 --> 00:11:31,989
was radically different
from other reactor concepts.

229
00:11:32,058 --> 00:11:33,458
Man #2:
Sustained atomic fission

230
00:11:33,526 --> 00:11:36,060
has been obtained
in this nuclear reactor,

231
00:11:36,129 --> 00:11:38,396
created and built
for industrial applications,

232
00:11:38,465 --> 00:11:41,400
medical research,
and scientific exploration.

233
00:11:41,468 --> 00:11:44,669
Man #3: On the first full power
run of the reactor steam plant,

234
00:11:44,737 --> 00:11:46,871
all systems
operated smoothly,

235
00:11:46,940 --> 00:11:49,140
and full power
was obtained with ease.

236
00:11:49,209 --> 00:11:51,877
Man #4: For the first time
in the United States,

237
00:11:51,944 --> 00:11:53,678
an entire community
was illuminated

238
00:11:53,680 --> 00:11:56,948
by electricity generated
by an atomic reactor.

239
00:12:00,353 --> 00:12:04,255
When we lived here
before we learned the news,

240
00:12:04,257 --> 00:12:07,192
it was just utopia.

241
00:12:12,098 --> 00:12:15,733
Kowalski :We had a rural
atmosphere close to the city.

242
00:12:15,802 --> 00:12:19,504
We had children who loved
playing in the creeks.

243
00:12:19,572 --> 00:12:24,443
And I thought we'd found
a dream place.

244
00:12:24,511 --> 00:12:26,812
Tyler: You know, it was
the '50's and the '60's.

245
00:12:26,879 --> 00:12:29,313
It was magical.

246
00:12:29,382 --> 00:12:31,583
In those days,
we'd go out the door,

247
00:12:31,651 --> 00:12:34,920
Mom would say, "Come back,"
you know, "before dinner."

248
00:12:34,988 --> 00:12:36,754
And it was
totally safe.

249
00:12:36,756 --> 00:12:38,422
Nobody locked
their doors.

250
00:12:38,491 --> 00:12:41,993
We just played outdoors
all day, all the time.

251
00:12:42,061 --> 00:12:46,364
Man:
This is how American families
are living in their new homes.

252
00:12:49,135 --> 00:12:51,635
Tyler: The Valley was
the ideal place to go.

253
00:12:51,637 --> 00:12:53,905
It was agricultural,
at that time.

254
00:12:53,907 --> 00:12:55,707
It was rural.

255
00:12:55,775 --> 00:12:58,943
And it would
have been, really,

256
00:12:59,012 --> 00:13:02,480
the most idyllic place
to raise a child,

257
00:13:02,482 --> 00:13:07,585
before the story
that's unfolding now.

258
00:13:07,653 --> 00:13:12,190
Klea: I think I was 19 years old
when I came to California.

259
00:13:12,258 --> 00:13:17,062
I started working at Atomics
International in Santa Susanna

260
00:13:17,130 --> 00:13:19,030
in 1963.

261
00:13:19,098 --> 00:13:22,767
I felt a sense of pride
to be there, and be involved.

262
00:13:22,835 --> 00:13:25,770
And every worker
felt a sense of pride.

263
00:13:25,839 --> 00:13:28,507
I didn't know anything
about what they were doing

264
00:13:28,575 --> 00:13:32,143
where I worked,
except it was secret.

265
00:13:32,145 --> 00:13:34,545
Blaze: The employees of
Santa Susanna Field Laboratory

266
00:13:34,614 --> 00:13:41,186
and Canoga and DeSoto facility
changed the face of humanity.

267
00:13:41,254 --> 00:13:43,321
My father was employed
by Rocketdyne

268
00:13:43,390 --> 00:13:46,324
between 1962 and 1969.

269
00:13:46,393 --> 00:13:48,494
He was the senior propulsion
test inspector

270
00:13:48,561 --> 00:13:51,262
on the Saturn V
rocket engine program.

271
00:13:51,332 --> 00:13:53,197
I was never concerned
about what my dad did

272
00:13:53,199 --> 00:13:55,199
for a living
as a young child.

273
00:13:55,268 --> 00:13:58,470
He didn't really elaborate
on what his job duties were

274
00:13:58,538 --> 00:13:59,604
at the worksite.

275
00:13:59,606 --> 00:14:01,006
They were sworn
to secrecy.

276
00:14:01,074 --> 00:14:05,076
We didn't know what we had
really been dealing with

277
00:14:05,144 --> 00:14:07,345
all these years, what was really
going on up there.

278
00:14:07,347 --> 00:14:11,416
And it just changed, because
then, we didn't know if we came,

279
00:14:11,484 --> 00:14:12,951
and brought our children

280
00:14:12,953 --> 00:14:15,820
to a place that could be
harmful to them,

281
00:14:15,889 --> 00:14:17,355
because how would we know?

282
00:14:17,357 --> 00:14:19,156
My girls loved
climbing in creeks,

283
00:14:19,225 --> 00:14:22,026
and getting frogs.

284
00:14:22,028 --> 00:14:24,161
And it was scary.
It was scary.

285
00:14:24,230 --> 00:14:26,531
And so, as time went on,

286
00:14:26,533 --> 00:14:28,766
it was even worse
than we could even imagine.

287
00:14:35,641 --> 00:14:40,311
¶¶

288
00:14:40,380 --> 00:14:43,915
Face: My name
is John Face.

289
00:14:43,917 --> 00:14:46,317
I was there at the time of
the worst nuclear accident

290
00:14:46,386 --> 00:14:49,120
in the history
of the United States.

291
00:14:49,188 --> 00:14:54,892
I was 19 when I was hired there
in 1959.

292
00:14:54,961 --> 00:14:56,427
I didn't even know
what a reactor was

293
00:14:56,496 --> 00:14:58,062
when I first went
to work there.

294
00:14:58,064 --> 00:14:59,663
Man: The fella who was
sitting at the controls

295
00:14:59,732 --> 00:15:00,798
certainly looked
young to me.

296
00:15:00,867 --> 00:15:02,934
Are these young men
in your organization?

297
00:15:02,936 --> 00:15:06,471
Yes. All these operators
are fairly young fellows,

298
00:15:06,539 --> 00:15:08,106
but all they need is
a high-school education

299
00:15:08,174 --> 00:15:10,308
with some major
in science.

300
00:15:10,376 --> 00:15:13,578
It was the Cold War time
at that time,

301
00:15:13,580 --> 00:15:16,681
and they was trying
to help the United States

302
00:15:16,683 --> 00:15:18,050
outdo the Russians.

303
00:15:18,117 --> 00:15:20,584
Man: On the one side,
the forces of freedom,

304
00:15:20,653 --> 00:15:23,254
on the other,
the forces of Communism.

305
00:15:23,256 --> 00:15:27,392
It was an honor
to work there.

306
00:15:27,460 --> 00:15:29,594
I was working with
the very best scientists

307
00:15:29,596 --> 00:15:30,828
in the nuclear business.

308
00:15:30,897 --> 00:15:35,567
In fact, the person that had
overseen the SRE reactor,

309
00:15:35,635 --> 00:15:39,704
for Atomics International
was Dr. Marvin J. Fox.

310
00:15:39,772 --> 00:15:42,840
He's the one that helped
invent the atomic bomb

311
00:15:42,842 --> 00:15:47,244
that was dropped
on Hiroshima, there.

312
00:15:47,313 --> 00:15:49,714
On July 13th...

313
00:15:54,654 --> 00:15:57,788
...it was probably
about eleven o'clock

314
00:15:57,857 --> 00:16:02,693
was then I got there on
that particular graveyard shift.

315
00:16:02,763 --> 00:16:04,896
Went in the building.

316
00:16:04,965 --> 00:16:07,499
I pulled up to
the control room.

317
00:16:10,103 --> 00:16:11,202
Looking through the door,

318
00:16:11,270 --> 00:16:14,105
and I seen my crew
was already there.

319
00:16:14,173 --> 00:16:18,776
Then, I looked even closer,
and I seen Dr. Marvin J. Fox.

320
00:16:18,778 --> 00:16:20,178
And he had two others
with him

321
00:16:20,180 --> 00:16:23,247
that I wasn't sure
quite who they were.

322
00:16:23,249 --> 00:16:25,083
And I said,
"Man, there's something

323
00:16:25,085 --> 00:16:27,619
that's just not right."

324
00:16:27,687 --> 00:16:30,855
So, I got brave,
and opened the door, real quiet.

325
00:16:33,026 --> 00:16:34,825
And as I stood there,

326
00:16:34,894 --> 00:16:38,363
I heard the words
coming out of Dr Fox's mouth.

327
00:16:43,436 --> 00:16:45,703
I heard
my supervisor ask,

328
00:16:45,772 --> 00:16:50,307
"Can we tell our families
what happened today?"

329
00:16:50,376 --> 00:16:53,377
The three looked at each other
for a minute.

330
00:16:53,446 --> 00:16:56,814
Dr. Fox,
he turned around real quick,

331
00:16:56,816 --> 00:16:59,985
staring me in the eyes,
almost nose to nose.

332
00:17:03,723 --> 00:17:05,490
"Nobody will say a word."

333
00:17:08,494 --> 00:17:13,664
From that point on, there was
a cover-up of what happened.

334
00:17:13,666 --> 00:17:16,368
Man: It was the first step
in a nuclear nightmare,

335
00:17:16,436 --> 00:17:18,569
when a government official
said that a breakdown

336
00:17:18,571 --> 00:17:21,405
in an atomic power plant
in Pennsylvania today

337
00:17:21,474 --> 00:17:25,609
is probably the worst nuclear
reactor accident to date.

338
00:17:25,678 --> 00:17:28,879
Hirsch:
I was teaching at UCLA in 1979,
and there was an accident

339
00:17:28,948 --> 00:17:31,950
at a nuclear power plant
in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,

340
00:17:32,018 --> 00:17:34,018
called "Three Mile Island."

341
00:17:34,087 --> 00:17:35,920
And my students
wanted to research

342
00:17:35,988 --> 00:17:37,421
whether there were
nuclear activities

343
00:17:37,490 --> 00:17:38,689
in the Los Angeles area,

344
00:17:38,758 --> 00:17:39,925
and whether they had
any problems.

345
00:17:39,992 --> 00:17:41,292
And I said,
"Sure. Go ahead."

346
00:17:41,361 --> 00:17:42,928
I didn't think
they'd find anything.

347
00:17:42,995 --> 00:17:45,095
And within a period
of a few weeks,

348
00:17:45,165 --> 00:17:46,697
they discovered
that there had been

349
00:17:46,767 --> 00:17:48,699
a partial meltdown
in the reactor,

350
00:17:48,701 --> 00:17:49,700
at what we now call

351
00:17:49,769 --> 00:17:51,569
"the Santa Susanna
Field Laboratory."

352
00:17:51,637 --> 00:17:53,838
They obtained documents,
and photos,

353
00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:56,708
and also film footage
of the incident.

354
00:17:56,776 --> 00:17:59,577
Man: 13 of the 43 uranium
fuel elements

355
00:17:59,579 --> 00:18:01,380
eventually became
overheated.

356
00:18:01,447 --> 00:18:03,314
The fuel swelled in size,

357
00:18:03,382 --> 00:18:05,517
and structural damage
was sustained.

358
00:18:05,585 --> 00:18:08,319
Hirsch: The partial meltdown
occurred in a reactor

359
00:18:08,321 --> 00:18:10,354
that had no
containment structure.

360
00:18:10,356 --> 00:18:12,189
The radioactivity
was so high

361
00:18:12,258 --> 00:18:15,394
that they had to open
this huge garage-type door

362
00:18:15,461 --> 00:18:17,094
to try to vent
the radioactivity

363
00:18:17,163 --> 00:18:18,663
out towards Simi Valley,

364
00:18:18,731 --> 00:18:20,732
and for that matter,
the rest of L.A.

365
00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:23,201
One scholar,
Dr. Andre Nakatani,

366
00:18:23,203 --> 00:18:25,670
had estimated that
the radioactive iodine

367
00:18:25,738 --> 00:18:28,140
released from meltdown
could have been

368
00:18:28,207 --> 00:18:30,642
250 times greater
than the amount

369
00:18:30,710 --> 00:18:32,577
released from the
Three Mile Island accident.

370
00:18:32,645 --> 00:18:34,345
TMI was a much
larger reactor,

371
00:18:34,414 --> 00:18:36,013
but it had
a containment structure.

372
00:18:36,082 --> 00:18:37,482
This is
a smaller reactor,

373
00:18:37,550 --> 00:18:40,484
but it had nothing to prevent
greater activity.

374
00:18:40,553 --> 00:18:42,953
Face: The radiation was clear
off of scales.

375
00:18:43,022 --> 00:18:45,923
Wherever the wind is blowing,
whichever direction,

376
00:18:45,992 --> 00:18:49,426
that's where the radiation
travels, of course,

377
00:18:49,495 --> 00:18:50,961
just like smoke
with a fire.

378
00:18:51,030 --> 00:18:55,099
The man that was working there,
they were so disturbed about it,

379
00:18:55,101 --> 00:18:58,135
because all that radiation
went over their own homes.

380
00:18:58,204 --> 00:19:00,271
Five weeks after
the accident occurred,

381
00:19:00,339 --> 00:19:01,739
they issued
a news release

382
00:19:01,807 --> 00:19:04,475
embargoed for the Saturday
morning paper.

383
00:19:04,544 --> 00:19:06,176
And the press release
didn't say

384
00:19:06,245 --> 00:19:07,345
there had been
a partial meltdown,

385
00:19:07,413 --> 00:19:08,913
didn't said there was
a serious accident,

386
00:19:08,982 --> 00:19:10,314
didn't say there was
any radiation.

387
00:19:10,384 --> 00:19:11,749
They said
just the opposite.

388
00:19:11,751 --> 00:19:14,185
At the very moment that they
issued that press release,

389
00:19:14,187 --> 00:19:17,588
they were venting radioactive
gases into the environment.

390
00:19:17,657 --> 00:19:19,723
Reporter: Despite the
seriousness of the accident,

391
00:19:19,793 --> 00:19:21,326
the official news release
claimed there was

392
00:19:21,394 --> 00:19:24,495
no indication
of unsafe reactor conditions.

393
00:19:24,497 --> 00:19:26,131
They lied.

394
00:19:26,199 --> 00:19:29,200
and I couldn't say
a word.

395
00:19:29,269 --> 00:19:30,702
20 years
I was silenced.

396
00:19:39,445 --> 00:19:46,217
¶¶

397
00:19:46,285 --> 00:19:53,124
¶¶

398
00:19:53,126 --> 00:19:54,224
Man: Good evening,
everybody.

399
00:19:54,293 --> 00:19:56,560
[Indistinct]
has been showing us films

400
00:19:56,629 --> 00:19:57,761
of a nuclear mishap

401
00:19:57,830 --> 00:20:00,097
that occurred near Los Angeles
20 years ago,

402
00:20:00,166 --> 00:20:02,299
but which has not been revealed
to the public before.

403
00:20:02,368 --> 00:20:03,635
Thank you, John.

404
00:20:03,703 --> 00:20:06,972
The reactor was located 35 miles
from downtown Los Angeles.

405
00:20:07,039 --> 00:20:10,107
It was called The "Sodium
Reactor Experiment," or SRE.

406
00:20:10,109 --> 00:20:13,278
But in 1959, when it suffered
its fuel rod melting,

407
00:20:13,345 --> 00:20:15,446
the general public
was not informed.

408
00:20:15,514 --> 00:20:17,881
Local public safety officials
weren't told much, either.

409
00:20:17,950 --> 00:20:19,717
Today is the first time
that I've heard

410
00:20:19,719 --> 00:20:22,119
of the '59 incident, when you
mentioned it a while ago.

411
00:20:22,188 --> 00:20:25,856
Industry experts tell us
that certain risks were taken.

412
00:20:25,925 --> 00:20:28,994
Well, I was really
appalled at the --

413
00:20:29,061 --> 00:20:31,595
sort of the cavalier attitude
that they demonstrated.

414
00:20:31,664 --> 00:20:34,265
It was actually
very undramatic.

415
00:20:34,267 --> 00:20:37,534
It did not appear to be a hazard
to the public

416
00:20:37,603 --> 00:20:38,669
or to our employees.

417
00:20:38,738 --> 00:20:41,071
O feel less concerned about it
than I would

418
00:20:41,073 --> 00:20:44,341
the long-term effect
of the smog of Los Angeles.

419
00:20:44,410 --> 00:20:47,946
The potential hazard
of a major release

420
00:20:48,014 --> 00:20:50,081
into the environment
was just not there.

421
00:20:50,149 --> 00:20:52,716
Man: And it's taken until
this week, 20 years later,

422
00:20:52,785 --> 00:20:56,654
for the details
to be widely broadcast.

423
00:20:56,656 --> 00:20:57,922
Olney:
We all have the idea,

424
00:20:57,924 --> 00:21:01,426
all of us who were involved
in this project,

425
00:21:01,494 --> 00:21:05,896
that it had been
a cover-up.

426
00:21:05,965 --> 00:21:09,399
We know that we had to approach
this in a very,

427
00:21:09,469 --> 00:21:13,104
very careful way,
because we knew that

428
00:21:13,172 --> 00:21:15,973
we were looking at
a very powerful industry

429
00:21:16,042 --> 00:21:18,642
that had not been challenged
in the way

430
00:21:18,711 --> 00:21:21,713
that we were prepared
to challenge it ever before.

431
00:21:21,781 --> 00:21:23,448
It was a scary
proposition,

432
00:21:23,516 --> 00:21:25,183
to take on
the nuclear industry --

433
00:21:25,251 --> 00:21:27,318
a very scary
proposition.

434
00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:29,920
So, the accident at
Santa Susanna was serious,

435
00:21:29,922 --> 00:21:32,723
and yet, there's room for debate
on how well it was handled.

436
00:21:32,792 --> 00:21:36,261
We knew we had something
that was really important,

437
00:21:36,329 --> 00:21:39,596
particularly in the context
of what was going on

438
00:21:39,665 --> 00:21:40,864
at Three Mile Island.

439
00:21:40,933 --> 00:21:46,804
I think what it reveals is
that this great guarantee

440
00:21:46,873 --> 00:21:51,942
of the ultimate safety
of the industry was a phony.

441
00:21:51,944 --> 00:21:53,010
It was a fake.

442
00:21:53,012 --> 00:21:53,944
It was wrong.

443
00:21:54,013 --> 00:21:58,048
¶¶

444
00:21:58,050 --> 00:22:01,987
¶¶

445
00:22:02,054 --> 00:22:04,788
Hirsch: It was one of the worst
nuclear accidents in history,

446
00:22:04,857 --> 00:22:06,090
to that point.

447
00:22:09,395 --> 00:22:13,698
No one knew until my students
uncovered the documents

448
00:22:13,766 --> 00:22:15,166
two decades later,

449
00:22:15,234 --> 00:22:16,301
Man: The material
that we got

450
00:22:16,369 --> 00:22:18,736
mostly came from an outfit
in in Westwood

451
00:22:18,804 --> 00:22:20,705
called "Bridge the Gap,"
which is an anti-nuclear group.

452
00:22:20,774 --> 00:22:21,939
What happened
at Santa Susanna

453
00:22:22,007 --> 00:22:24,408
would not happen
at a well-run facility.

454
00:22:24,477 --> 00:22:29,413
This was a case of tremendous
environmental negligence.

455
00:22:29,415 --> 00:22:33,585
They cut corners over
and over and over again.

456
00:22:33,652 --> 00:22:35,920
The risks continued
for many decades.

457
00:22:35,988 --> 00:22:38,890
Duffield: The nuclear work
was over four decades.

458
00:22:38,958 --> 00:22:42,660
The other aerospace work
really didn't cease until 2006.

459
00:22:42,728 --> 00:22:47,264
So, over the course of decades,
in the course of accidents,

460
00:22:47,266 --> 00:22:50,201
spills, releases,
some intentional,

461
00:22:50,270 --> 00:22:54,806
the soil, and the groundwater,
and surface water runoff

462
00:22:54,874 --> 00:22:57,007
has become
very contaminated.

463
00:22:57,076 --> 00:22:59,743
Man: Produced by Rocketdyne,
a division of North American,

464
00:22:59,812 --> 00:23:01,879
in the canyons
of Southern California,

465
00:23:01,947 --> 00:23:03,682
the engine -- sometimes
called a "rocket,"

466
00:23:03,749 --> 00:23:05,149
sometimes called
a "power plant,"

467
00:23:05,151 --> 00:23:07,751
sometimes "the booster" --
is on.

468
00:23:07,753 --> 00:23:10,587
¶¶

469
00:23:10,656 --> 00:23:16,360
Kowalski: We'd all lived knowing
that there were rocket tests.

470
00:23:16,429 --> 00:23:18,695
We used to have
big booms.

471
00:23:18,764 --> 00:23:23,367
And we would see, like, mushroom
clouds above the facility.

472
00:23:23,436 --> 00:23:28,305
I would play outside with
my friends until it got dark.

473
00:23:28,374 --> 00:23:32,544
I'd be in the cul de sac,
and we'd all look up, and...

474
00:23:32,611 --> 00:23:34,546
We could hear those roars.

475
00:23:34,613 --> 00:23:37,214
Man: In California's
Santa Susanna Mountains,

476
00:23:37,216 --> 00:23:39,017
Rocketdyne engineers
that created

477
00:23:39,084 --> 00:23:42,252
America's largest
propulsion field laboratory.

478
00:23:42,321 --> 00:23:44,789
The whole of the Valley
would shudder.

479
00:23:44,857 --> 00:23:47,925
[ Man speaking indistinctly ]

480
00:23:47,993 --> 00:23:55,732
¶¶

481
00:23:55,734 --> 00:23:58,202
Tens of thousands
of rocket tests.

482
00:23:58,270 --> 00:24:00,471
And those would
produce huge plumes

483
00:24:00,539 --> 00:24:02,574
of contamination
that would be spreading

484
00:24:02,641 --> 00:24:04,007
at substantial distance.

485
00:24:04,076 --> 00:24:05,743
Man:
On the ashes of campfires

486
00:24:05,811 --> 00:24:07,979
built here
by [indistinct],

487
00:24:08,047 --> 00:24:10,881
engines poured forth
their pillars of flame.

488
00:24:10,950 --> 00:24:13,350
Over 30,000
rocket engine tests.

489
00:24:13,419 --> 00:24:15,419
And a lot of
the chemical contamination

490
00:24:15,421 --> 00:24:17,421
on the site
is a result of that.

491
00:24:17,423 --> 00:24:20,158
Hirsch: They ended up flushing
out rocket test engines

492
00:24:20,226 --> 00:24:23,760
with a very toxic solvent
called "TCE" --

493
00:24:23,829 --> 00:24:25,729
hundreds of thousands
of gallons,

494
00:24:25,798 --> 00:24:30,200
leaving half a million gallons
of TCE in the groundwater.

495
00:24:30,269 --> 00:24:31,502
Duffield: There was
a hot lab there,

496
00:24:31,571 --> 00:24:33,904
there they would re-process
nuclear fuel

497
00:24:33,973 --> 00:24:36,073
that was shipped in
from around the country.

498
00:24:36,075 --> 00:24:37,408
That lab had fires.

499
00:24:37,410 --> 00:24:39,710
Man: Gamma radiation is hard
to work with sometimes.

500
00:24:39,778 --> 00:24:41,845
They also had
open burn pits.

501
00:24:41,914 --> 00:24:43,281
There, they would take,
each month,

502
00:24:43,348 --> 00:24:47,484
100 or so 55-gallon drums
of toxic chemicals,

503
00:24:47,554 --> 00:24:50,455
and they would shoot at them
with rifles, to ignite them.

504
00:24:50,522 --> 00:24:51,722
And they would
catch fire.

505
00:24:51,790 --> 00:24:54,725
Huge plumes
of toxic smoke.

506
00:24:54,794 --> 00:24:57,294
Workers were killed
because they were

507
00:24:57,363 --> 00:24:59,997
illegally disposing
of hazardous materials

508
00:24:59,999 --> 00:25:01,666
by blowing them up
on the property.

509
00:25:01,734 --> 00:25:03,433
Duffield:
10 Nuclear reactors,

510
00:25:03,502 --> 00:25:05,403
three of which
suffered accidents.

511
00:25:05,471 --> 00:25:07,505
These activities went on
for decades.

512
00:25:07,573 --> 00:25:13,210
¶¶

513
00:25:13,212 --> 00:25:16,280
Hirsch: During that period,
the population just mushroomed.

514
00:25:16,282 --> 00:25:17,448
[Indistinct]

515
00:25:17,450 --> 00:25:19,716
And I think anyone
who has a fear

516
00:25:19,785 --> 00:25:22,019
of anything like that,
they should be told,

517
00:25:22,021 --> 00:25:24,188
given a chance to say, "No,
I don't want to live here."

518
00:25:24,190 --> 00:25:26,691
Man: It did not appear
to be a hazard to the public

519
00:25:26,759 --> 00:25:28,025
or to our employees.

520
00:25:28,027 --> 00:25:30,327
The potential hazard
of a major release

521
00:25:30,396 --> 00:25:32,230
into the environment
was just not there.

522
00:25:32,298 --> 00:25:36,234
¶¶

523
00:25:36,302 --> 00:25:38,602
Dodge: The Santa Susanna
Field Lab hill

524
00:25:38,671 --> 00:25:41,406
is contaminated with
a veritable who's who

525
00:25:41,473 --> 00:25:44,174
of toxic chemicals,
from heavy metals,

526
00:25:44,243 --> 00:25:48,645
to dioxins, to percolate,
to volatile organic acids,

527
00:25:48,714 --> 00:25:51,248
and multiple
radioactive neuclides,

528
00:25:51,317 --> 00:25:54,251
which come from
the nuclear partial meltdown,

529
00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:56,720
and also numerous accidents
over the years

530
00:25:56,789 --> 00:25:58,522
with the other reactors
on site.

531
00:25:58,524 --> 00:25:59,923
When it comes to
radioneuclides,

532
00:25:59,992 --> 00:26:01,658
we actually describe
not the half life --

533
00:26:01,727 --> 00:26:05,262
which is the time where, after
which it would be half as potent

534
00:26:05,331 --> 00:26:07,198
as it was,
as it degrades.

535
00:26:07,266 --> 00:26:09,700
We describe something called
its "hazardous life,"

536
00:26:09,769 --> 00:26:12,537
which is actually equivalent
to 20 half-lives.

537
00:26:12,605 --> 00:26:14,137
So, these are
the most dangerous,

538
00:26:14,206 --> 00:26:16,940
which we have well studied,
and well --

539
00:26:17,009 --> 00:26:19,676
a high awareness
of their health impacts

540
00:26:19,745 --> 00:26:25,683
that go on for these hundreds,
if not half a million years.

541
00:26:25,685 --> 00:26:27,150
Duffield: Right now,
half a million people

542
00:26:27,219 --> 00:26:29,621
live within 10 miles
of the site.

543
00:26:31,690 --> 00:26:34,625
Hirsch: I'm asked over and over
again, "Where is it safe?

544
00:26:34,627 --> 00:26:35,760
Where would it
be dangerous?"

545
00:26:35,828 --> 00:26:39,662
And after studying this
for almost 40 years,

546
00:26:39,664 --> 00:26:41,598
I'm afraid
I can't answer that.

547
00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:43,000
People need
to understand that

548
00:26:43,002 --> 00:26:44,301
the Santa Susanna
Field Laboratory

549
00:26:44,370 --> 00:26:46,637
is on a mountain.

550
00:26:46,705 --> 00:26:50,207
Gravity wants to carry
that contamination downhill.

551
00:26:52,044 --> 00:26:56,647
There is not a glass wall
surrounding Santa Susanna

552
00:26:56,715 --> 00:26:58,115
that prevents contaminants

553
00:26:58,183 --> 00:26:59,783
from being blown off-site
by the wind.

554
00:26:59,852 --> 00:27:03,387
The wind will carry
the contaminants.

555
00:27:03,455 --> 00:27:07,657
There is not some kind of a dam
built around this site,

556
00:27:07,727 --> 00:27:08,859
so that,
when it rains,

557
00:27:08,928 --> 00:27:11,928
the rainfall won't carry
the contaminants.

558
00:27:11,997 --> 00:27:13,897
So, when it rains,
the surface water

559
00:27:13,899 --> 00:27:18,235
carries the radioactivity
down intermittent streams.

560
00:27:18,304 --> 00:27:21,204
It's the headwaters
of the Los Angeles River.

561
00:27:21,273 --> 00:27:23,073
So, in terms of
L.A. County,

562
00:27:23,142 --> 00:27:25,075
you're contaminating
everything along the L.A. river

563
00:27:25,144 --> 00:27:28,078
and the various streams
that lead to it.

564
00:27:28,147 --> 00:27:29,880
There was
a children's camp

565
00:27:29,882 --> 00:27:32,416
called the "Brandeis-Bardin
Institute,"

566
00:27:32,418 --> 00:27:35,485
a Jewish training institute
for young children

567
00:27:35,554 --> 00:27:36,920
and for college students.

568
00:27:36,989 --> 00:27:40,090
It is right beneath the
Santa Susanna Field Laboratory.

569
00:27:40,159 --> 00:27:42,092
There has been
some contamination found

570
00:27:42,161 --> 00:27:44,596
on the Brandeis property,

571
00:27:44,663 --> 00:27:48,165
and there is concern about
the health of the children

572
00:27:48,167 --> 00:27:50,801
who have been
or are going to that facility.

573
00:27:50,870 --> 00:27:54,504
Soil contamination goes down
through the Brandeis camp,

574
00:27:54,573 --> 00:27:57,574
and into the arroyo,
where that contaminated water

575
00:27:57,643 --> 00:28:00,144
then percolates
into the groundwater.

576
00:28:07,086 --> 00:28:08,819
Man: It's like gel.

577
00:28:08,887 --> 00:28:10,254
Man #2: Ew, dude.

578
00:28:13,258 --> 00:28:16,027
Man: What is that?

579
00:28:27,707 --> 00:28:31,007
[ Indistinct talking ]

580
00:28:31,076 --> 00:28:32,410
Woman: Do you feel good
about [indistinct]?

581
00:28:35,581 --> 00:28:37,982
[ Indistinct talking ]

582
00:28:44,056 --> 00:28:50,894
¶¶

583
00:28:50,963 --> 00:28:57,968
¶¶

584
00:28:58,036 --> 00:29:04,976
¶¶

585
00:29:05,043 --> 00:29:12,082
¶¶

586
00:29:12,150 --> 00:29:13,383
Ready?
Ow, wow.

587
00:29:13,452 --> 00:29:15,085
That's fancy.

588
00:29:15,154 --> 00:29:22,994
¶¶

589
00:29:35,174 --> 00:29:38,609
[ Cheers and applause ]

590
00:29:38,677 --> 00:29:42,145
I don't know if you know,
but pH-positive leukemia

591
00:29:42,214 --> 00:29:43,447
is extremely rare.

592
00:29:43,449 --> 00:29:45,016
Melissa, will you tell me
what the statistic is?

593
00:29:45,083 --> 00:29:46,383
Do you remember?

594
00:29:47,219 --> 00:29:48,986
One in million.

595
00:29:49,054 --> 00:29:52,289
And while we already know
that Grace is one in a million,

596
00:29:52,291 --> 00:29:54,726
she shouldn't have
that kind of diagnosis.

597
00:29:54,793 --> 00:29:59,229
You've taught all of us here
how to keep going

598
00:29:59,231 --> 00:30:01,564
in the face
of something difficult,

599
00:30:01,633 --> 00:30:05,168
and we'd like to present you
with our Ever After Ball award.

600
00:30:05,238 --> 00:30:07,470
[ Applause ]

601
00:30:07,539 --> 00:30:15,478
¶¶

602
00:30:15,547 --> 00:30:23,486
¶¶

603
00:30:23,555 --> 00:30:31,495
¶¶

604
00:30:31,497 --> 00:30:39,469
¶¶

605
00:30:39,538 --> 00:30:47,444
¶¶

606
00:30:47,512 --> 00:30:55,485
¶¶

607
00:30:55,554 --> 00:31:03,460
¶¶

608
00:31:03,529 --> 00:31:11,601
¶¶

609
00:31:11,603 --> 00:31:19,410
¶¶

610
00:31:19,478 --> 00:31:21,845
Bumstead:
My daughter's a fighter.

611
00:31:21,914 --> 00:31:24,114
She's incredibly strong.

612
00:31:24,116 --> 00:31:25,749
I could not be
more proud of her,

613
00:31:25,818 --> 00:31:28,118
and yet, part of me
still grieves

614
00:31:28,186 --> 00:31:30,153
that she has to be
that way.

615
00:31:33,225 --> 00:31:35,193
You know, I wish more than
anything she could have

616
00:31:35,260 --> 00:31:37,261
just had
a normal childhood.

617
00:31:39,598 --> 00:31:41,664
You know, she was diagnosed
when she was 4.

618
00:31:41,733 --> 00:31:44,901
That's almost before anyone
can have a memory.

619
00:31:44,970 --> 00:31:48,238
She was immediately limited
from being around other kids

620
00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:51,108
because of
the germ factor.

621
00:31:51,176 --> 00:31:56,546
But also, my son
was so emotionally impacted.

622
00:31:56,548 --> 00:31:59,116
Both of my children lost
a big part of their childhood,

623
00:31:59,184 --> 00:32:00,284
and that's not fair.

624
00:32:00,352 --> 00:32:03,053
We can never
give that back.

625
00:32:03,055 --> 00:32:05,221
My husband and I are trying
to heal our marriage

626
00:32:05,290 --> 00:32:09,393
from all the separation and pain
that we went through.

627
00:32:09,461 --> 00:32:11,696
And then,
what's left over is me.

628
00:32:14,166 --> 00:32:17,034
But I have a lot of friends
whose kids are still suffering.

629
00:32:19,838 --> 00:32:21,971
She didn't get to make a choice
if she wanted her child

630
00:32:22,041 --> 00:32:23,239
to live next to
this radiation.

631
00:32:23,308 --> 00:32:24,841
She'd probably never
heard of it before.

632
00:32:24,910 --> 00:32:29,913
¶¶

633
00:32:29,982 --> 00:32:31,314
I don't think
any of us should have had

634
00:32:31,383 --> 00:32:32,716
to have picked up
this burden.

635
00:32:35,287 --> 00:32:37,388
But I can't unlearn
what I know.

636
00:32:45,397 --> 00:32:49,166
So, the -- the...
we'll have to wait for the...

637
00:33:02,681 --> 00:33:04,013
You know what?
Why don't you tell him

638
00:33:04,083 --> 00:33:06,850
I'm being interviewed for
a documentary on Santa Susanna,

639
00:33:06,852 --> 00:33:10,053
and that I'll call her
when I'm done.

640
00:33:10,122 --> 00:33:14,023
and put the fear of
[bleep] God into her.

641
00:33:14,093 --> 00:33:17,761
The site has three
responsible parties.

642
00:33:17,829 --> 00:33:19,196
There's the Department
of Energy,

643
00:33:19,264 --> 00:33:22,366
which leased part of
its property from Boeing.

644
00:33:22,434 --> 00:33:23,700
There's Nassau,

645
00:33:23,702 --> 00:33:25,168
and then,
there is Boeing itself,

646
00:33:25,237 --> 00:33:27,804
which owns
most of the site.

647
00:33:27,873 --> 00:33:29,340
Hirsch: At some point,
Rocketdyne was sold

648
00:33:29,408 --> 00:33:30,907
to Rockwell International,

649
00:33:30,976 --> 00:33:33,543
And Rockwell International
eventually sold

650
00:33:33,612 --> 00:33:36,246
its Rocketdyne division
to Boeing.

651
00:33:36,315 --> 00:33:39,282
And Boeing
assumed the liabilities

652
00:33:39,284 --> 00:33:41,051
of Rocketdyne
for the contamination

653
00:33:41,053 --> 00:33:42,585
of Santa Susanna.

654
00:33:42,654 --> 00:33:46,122
Reiser: The ultimate regulator
of the Santa Susanna field site

655
00:33:46,191 --> 00:33:47,590
is California,

656
00:33:47,659 --> 00:33:51,694
and specifically the Department
of Toxic Substances Control,

657
00:33:51,764 --> 00:33:55,331
which is a subdivision
of the California EPA.

658
00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:57,601
California is the one
who gets to say,

659
00:33:57,603 --> 00:33:59,403
"This is how much
gets cleaned up."

660
00:33:59,471 --> 00:34:01,538
We have the authority
to shut down a business

661
00:34:01,607 --> 00:34:05,141
when we feel like the health
of the community is at risk,

662
00:34:05,210 --> 00:34:07,210
and when we see
evidence of harm

663
00:34:07,212 --> 00:34:08,278
to the environment,
or to human health.

664
00:34:13,183 --> 00:34:15,285
Grover: There were a lot
of people that had a stake

665
00:34:15,354 --> 00:34:18,889
in keeping this story
under wraps.

666
00:34:18,957 --> 00:34:22,359
I had a number of insiders
at DTSC tell me,

667
00:34:22,428 --> 00:34:25,129
"The people that run
this agency have no interest

668
00:34:25,197 --> 00:34:27,363
in telling the truth
about Santa Susanna."

669
00:34:28,033 --> 00:34:32,235
My station broke a huge story
back in 1979.

670
00:34:32,304 --> 00:34:36,205
A few years ago,
the producer of that 1979 report

671
00:34:36,275 --> 00:34:38,676
came to see me at KNBC,
and he said,

672
00:34:38,743 --> 00:34:43,246
"There is a lot more to the
story that we broke back in '79.

673
00:34:43,248 --> 00:34:45,115
You have to continue
our work.

674
00:34:45,117 --> 00:34:46,384
You have to dig deeper."

675
00:34:46,451 --> 00:34:48,252
You might be wondering
why we should care about

676
00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:52,055
a nuclear accident that happened
more than half a century ago --

677
00:34:52,123 --> 00:34:54,392
because, as you're
about to see,

678
00:34:54,459 --> 00:34:56,193
thousands of people
in the San Fernando

679
00:34:56,195 --> 00:34:59,062
and Simi valleys
have been secretly exposed

680
00:34:59,131 --> 00:35:01,464
to dangerous
radioactive fallout.

681
00:35:01,533 --> 00:35:04,200
It was pretty clear to me
that there were people

682
00:35:04,269 --> 00:35:08,272
inside certain government
agencies, like the DTSC,

683
00:35:08,340 --> 00:35:11,875
who were very close
with Boeing.

684
00:35:11,943 --> 00:35:14,278
Tucker: That was a very
effective way for Boeing

685
00:35:14,346 --> 00:35:16,946
to buy protection
for themselves.

686
00:35:17,015 --> 00:35:18,615
I was looking into
the Department

687
00:35:18,617 --> 00:35:20,483
of Toxic
Substances Control,

688
00:35:20,485 --> 00:35:24,888
and I decided to look into, how
is it really regulating toxins?

689
00:35:24,956 --> 00:35:27,690
And we did get
very revealing material

690
00:35:27,759 --> 00:35:32,495
that showed us that the DTSC is
what I call a "captured agency."

691
00:35:32,564 --> 00:35:33,896
It's captured
by the polluters

692
00:35:33,966 --> 00:35:35,898
but it's actually
supposed to be regulating.

693
00:35:35,968 --> 00:35:37,100
Insiders at the

694
00:35:37,169 --> 00:35:39,370
State Department of Toxic
Substance Control.

695
00:35:39,437 --> 00:35:42,372
Told us that they were often
too lenient with polluters

696
00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:44,207
who didn't clean up
contamination.

697
00:35:44,209 --> 00:35:46,710
Boeing maintains
that there have been

698
00:35:46,778 --> 00:35:51,515
no adverse health impacts from
contamination at Santa Susanna.

699
00:35:51,583 --> 00:35:54,517
The DTSC has, while admitting
the contamination

700
00:35:54,519 --> 00:35:56,052
has gotten off site,

701
00:35:56,054 --> 00:35:58,454
they'll say "it's not
getting off site at levels

702
00:35:58,523 --> 00:36:00,190
that are harmful
to human health."

703
00:36:00,259 --> 00:36:01,691
And that's just
not true.

704
00:36:01,693 --> 00:36:05,762
Tucker: Polluters are very adept
at flattering regulators,

705
00:36:05,830 --> 00:36:07,531
at grooming them,

706
00:36:07,599 --> 00:36:10,400
taking them by the hand
when they didn't know that much.

707
00:36:10,402 --> 00:36:11,801
Kind of showed them
the direction

708
00:36:11,870 --> 00:36:13,503
of what they wanted things
to look like.

709
00:36:13,572 --> 00:36:17,073
I also, as you know,
represent many private companies

710
00:36:17,075 --> 00:36:19,842
who have also found [indistinct]
to be balanced,

711
00:36:19,911 --> 00:36:23,279
to be thorough, and to be just
as open as she claims to be.

712
00:36:23,281 --> 00:36:26,049
Santa Susanna is kind of
a textbook civics lesson

713
00:36:26,117 --> 00:36:27,751
in the way
government works.

714
00:36:27,819 --> 00:36:29,820
People work in government
on an issue --

715
00:36:29,888 --> 00:36:33,023
in this case, Santa Susanna --
and then, they leave government,

716
00:36:33,091 --> 00:36:35,725
and they can make a lot
more money becoming a lobbyist

717
00:36:35,727 --> 00:36:37,594
for the company
involved in the issue --

718
00:36:37,662 --> 00:36:38,895
In this case, Boeing.

719
00:36:38,964 --> 00:36:43,633
The flotilla of fixers
that were hired by Boeing,

720
00:36:43,702 --> 00:36:46,769
many of them had direct
connections to Jerry Brown,

721
00:36:46,838 --> 00:36:48,271
or had worked for him.

722
00:36:48,273 --> 00:36:51,041
Reporter: It's been like a game
of musical chairs.

723
00:36:51,109 --> 00:36:53,910
A former environmental aide
to Governor Brown,

724
00:36:53,978 --> 00:36:56,446
a former head
of the state EPA,

725
00:36:56,514 --> 00:36:59,550
and the former chief lawyer
of the DTSC,

726
00:36:59,618 --> 00:37:03,186
have all switched sides,
and worked on behalf of Boeing

727
00:37:03,255 --> 00:37:05,456
to kill a full cleanup
of Santa Susanna.

728
00:37:05,523 --> 00:37:07,123
The Santa Susanna
Field Laboratory

729
00:37:07,192 --> 00:37:09,593
is a really
complex cleanup.

730
00:37:09,661 --> 00:37:11,594
It costs
a lot of money.

731
00:37:11,663 --> 00:37:13,663
And any time
it costs a lot of money,

732
00:37:13,665 --> 00:37:16,866
there's going to be
politics at play.

733
00:37:16,868 --> 00:37:18,601
That leads to delay.

734
00:37:18,670 --> 00:37:23,139
In 2007, there was a consent
order signed between the DTSC

735
00:37:23,208 --> 00:37:25,408
and the responsible parties

736
00:37:25,410 --> 00:37:29,079
that basically did not establish
much of a cleanup standard.

737
00:37:29,147 --> 00:37:30,480
It was very weak.

738
00:37:30,482 --> 00:37:32,682
And it was exactly
what Boeing wanted.

739
00:37:32,751 --> 00:37:37,820
Duffield:
A recreational space cleanup,
which is what Boeing is pushing,

740
00:37:37,822 --> 00:37:41,090
is based off of people being
on a site very infrequently.

741
00:37:41,159 --> 00:37:43,560
That would result in 98%
of the contamination

742
00:37:43,562 --> 00:37:44,562
not being cleaned up.

743
00:37:44,629 --> 00:37:46,763
People who live near
Santa Susanna

744
00:37:46,765 --> 00:37:48,699
do not live
in recreational areas.

745
00:37:48,767 --> 00:37:50,434
They live in
residential areas.

746
00:37:50,502 --> 00:37:53,571
All through the 2000s,
there was an effort

747
00:37:53,638 --> 00:37:55,038
to require full cleanup.

748
00:37:55,040 --> 00:37:57,106
Then-state senator
Sheila Kuehl

749
00:37:57,175 --> 00:37:58,307
represented the area.

750
00:37:58,377 --> 00:38:00,010
Introduced bill
after bill.

751
00:38:00,078 --> 00:38:02,378
Workers and neighbors
have become sick,

752
00:38:02,447 --> 00:38:03,781
and too many
have died.

753
00:38:03,848 --> 00:38:07,483
It's time to require
full and complete cleanup.

754
00:38:07,552 --> 00:38:11,254
I ask for your "aye" vote
on SB-990.

755
00:38:11,323 --> 00:38:15,125
And in 2007, she finally got
her legislation through.

756
00:38:15,193 --> 00:38:17,060
Tucker: Believe it or not,
under Schwarzenegger,

757
00:38:17,128 --> 00:38:20,663
there was an actual serious
effort to clean up that site.

758
00:38:20,732 --> 00:38:23,100
But after Governor Brown
came to office,

759
00:38:23,168 --> 00:38:25,134
things shifted
very dramatically.

760
00:38:25,203 --> 00:38:28,606
Boeing, however, went to court
to overturn the law.

761
00:38:28,673 --> 00:38:31,775
And through some exceedingly
troubling action

762
00:38:31,843 --> 00:38:35,411
by the Brown administration,
that lawsuit was lost.

763
00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:40,016
Within five weeks of Jerry Brown
being sworn in, in 2011,

764
00:38:40,085 --> 00:38:42,618
a secret stipulation
was entered into

765
00:38:42,687 --> 00:38:46,222
between the state and Boeing
in that lawsuit.

766
00:38:46,291 --> 00:38:49,026
The state of California
actually stipulated

767
00:38:49,094 --> 00:38:53,229
that they would not contest
any material fact

768
00:38:53,231 --> 00:38:55,565
that Boeing would put forward
in the suit.

769
00:38:55,634 --> 00:38:57,367
And they actually agreed
to that stipulation,

770
00:38:57,435 --> 00:39:00,370
it's my understanding,
before ever having seen

771
00:39:00,439 --> 00:39:03,106
the material facts that
Boeing was going to put forward.

772
00:39:03,108 --> 00:39:06,709
The judge found it very easy
to overturn the law.

773
00:39:06,711 --> 00:39:09,980
The state waived the right
to dispute anything

774
00:39:10,048 --> 00:39:11,648
that Boeing might say

775
00:39:11,716 --> 00:39:13,850
without knowing
what those things would be.

776
00:39:13,852 --> 00:39:15,518
It was a major blow.

777
00:39:15,587 --> 00:39:17,653
And it was exactly
what Boeing wanted.

778
00:39:17,722 --> 00:39:19,255
And they got it.

779
00:39:19,257 --> 00:39:21,758
There are those that think your
agency is too cozy with Boeing.

780
00:39:21,826 --> 00:39:22,793
I haven't seen it,

781
00:39:22,861 --> 00:39:24,126
And I've looked
for it.

782
00:39:24,128 --> 00:39:26,329
NASA and the Department
of Energy

783
00:39:26,397 --> 00:39:30,300
also signed 2010 agreements
with the State of California.

784
00:39:30,302 --> 00:39:33,404
And these were actually
really historic agreements.

785
00:39:33,471 --> 00:39:34,905
And what they do is,

786
00:39:34,973 --> 00:39:37,807
they say the Santa Susanna
Field Laboratory

787
00:39:37,809 --> 00:39:40,243
has to be cleaned up
to background levels.

788
00:39:40,312 --> 00:39:41,945
And essentially,
what that means is that,

789
00:39:42,013 --> 00:39:44,548
if there's contamination
on site, it gets cleaned up.

790
00:39:44,616 --> 00:39:47,084
From your vantage point,
what is the status

791
00:39:47,152 --> 00:39:50,688
of NASA's actions,
with respect to the cleanup?

792
00:39:50,755 --> 00:39:52,889
Yes, Congressman, all the
information you just relayed,

793
00:39:52,891 --> 00:39:55,158
it is my understanding,
as well, that's where we are.

794
00:39:55,226 --> 00:39:57,093
And NASA's committed
to fulfilling

795
00:39:57,095 --> 00:39:59,262
our obligations
under the AOC.

796
00:39:59,330 --> 00:40:01,030
I'm tired of fighting.

797
00:40:01,099 --> 00:40:03,833
Let's clean up
the background.

798
00:40:03,902 --> 00:40:05,735
Let's get
this site closed.

799
00:40:05,804 --> 00:40:07,437
Yes, things happen.

800
00:40:07,505 --> 00:40:09,239
Yes, they are unfortunate.

801
00:40:09,307 --> 00:40:11,974
And we've made a commitment
to clean it up.

802
00:40:12,043 --> 00:40:14,911
That cleanup was supposed to
already have been concluded

803
00:40:14,979 --> 00:40:16,646
by 2017.

804
00:40:16,648 --> 00:40:18,714
And Boeing
and the federal agencies

805
00:40:18,783 --> 00:40:21,017
have ensured
it hasn't even started.

806
00:40:21,019 --> 00:40:23,119
And I'm certain that
these federal agencies

807
00:40:23,188 --> 00:40:25,321
do not want to set
a precedent,

808
00:40:25,390 --> 00:40:29,492
in terms of really cleaning up
to a proper standard.

809
00:40:29,561 --> 00:40:33,664
And what happens when you cut
your corners on safety is

810
00:40:33,731 --> 00:40:35,065
you kill people.

811
00:40:35,133 --> 00:40:38,935
And that's exactly what
Boeing did with the 737 MAX.

812
00:40:38,937 --> 00:40:40,203
That is their style.

813
00:40:40,271 --> 00:40:43,606
The Department of Energy,
NASA, and Boeing

814
00:40:43,608 --> 00:40:46,809
have made repeated promises
to clean it up,

815
00:40:46,878 --> 00:40:49,879
as has the state Toxics agency
that oversees them.

816
00:40:49,948 --> 00:40:52,616
And those promises have been
broken over and over again.

817
00:40:52,684 --> 00:40:56,019
Will anyone from your agency
talk to us at all?

818
00:40:56,021 --> 00:40:57,620
My policy people
have talked to you.

819
00:40:57,689 --> 00:40:59,655
We've made a commitment
to clean it up.

820
00:40:59,724 --> 00:41:01,290
I've said all
I'm going to say.

821
00:41:01,359 --> 00:41:03,693
At the end of the day, because
it's the right thing to do.

822
00:41:03,762 --> 00:41:06,362
You've said nothing.

823
00:41:06,364 --> 00:41:10,266
And that means that there
have been years and years

824
00:41:10,268 --> 00:41:13,669
of additional migration possible
that wouldn't have been possible

825
00:41:13,738 --> 00:41:15,672
if they had lived up
to their commitments.

826
00:41:15,740 --> 00:41:18,307
It's my commitment to the people
of California that,

827
00:41:18,376 --> 00:41:19,710
when I'm gone,

828
00:41:19,777 --> 00:41:22,846
I've left in place a system
that is robust,

829
00:41:22,914 --> 00:41:26,282
defensible, and meaningful
for the future.

830
00:41:26,351 --> 00:41:27,650
Can you see how
some people

831
00:41:27,652 --> 00:41:31,087
would think this is
more lip service?

832
00:41:31,155 --> 00:41:32,088
I would hope
they wouldn't.

833
00:41:50,942 --> 00:41:55,612
Woman: You're going about
everything is different.rom,

834
00:42:01,019 --> 00:42:02,886
And it is truly
the biggest nightmare

835
00:42:02,954 --> 00:42:04,821
any parent
could ever imagine.

836
00:42:04,890 --> 00:42:11,794
¶¶

837
00:42:11,863 --> 00:42:15,898
Duffield: In 2006, there was
a cluster of retinoblastoma.

838
00:42:15,967 --> 00:42:19,168
This is a rare eye cancer
affecting young children.

839
00:42:19,237 --> 00:42:22,972
There is just under 300
diagnosed in the United States,

840
00:42:23,041 --> 00:42:26,109
and there were 11 cases
right near the site.

841
00:42:26,111 --> 00:42:28,044
We have very,
very strong evidence

842
00:42:28,113 --> 00:42:29,912
that the first group
of mothers

843
00:42:29,914 --> 00:42:33,583
whose children suffered from
retinoblastoma did sue Boeing,

844
00:42:33,651 --> 00:42:34,917
and did settle,

845
00:42:34,919 --> 00:42:36,286
and as part of
that settlement,

846
00:42:36,354 --> 00:42:39,790
were no longer allowed to talk
to the media, or get involved.

847
00:42:39,857 --> 00:42:43,159
If you have a child with cancer,
it's very expensive.

848
00:42:43,227 --> 00:42:46,362
I know one mother in particular
I talked to recently who,

849
00:42:46,364 --> 00:42:49,665
their family is bankrupt, now,
caring for their daughter.

850
00:42:49,734 --> 00:42:53,003
So, I can understand,
if I was one of those mothers,

851
00:42:53,071 --> 00:42:56,272
why they might have went
with that agreement.

852
00:42:56,341 --> 00:43:01,744
And now, several years later,
we're seeing new cases

853
00:43:01,746 --> 00:43:04,348
of pediatric cancers
that are near the site.

854
00:43:04,415 --> 00:43:07,283
Any amount of exposure
to some increased risk

855
00:43:07,285 --> 00:43:08,618
over background cancer,

856
00:43:08,687 --> 00:43:10,953
particularly for pregnant women
and children.

857
00:43:10,955 --> 00:43:14,790
Dodge: The [Indistinct] report,
which came out in 2006,

858
00:43:14,859 --> 00:43:18,028
that landmark study
ended up showing

859
00:43:18,096 --> 00:43:20,363
that there is no linear
threshold --

860
00:43:20,431 --> 00:43:24,701
that any level, any level of
radionuclide exposure

861
00:43:24,769 --> 00:43:26,335
above background

862
00:43:26,404 --> 00:43:28,838
had an inherent increased risk
of cancer.

863
00:43:28,906 --> 00:43:35,444
There is a dramatic increase
in very rare and bizarre cancers

864
00:43:35,513 --> 00:43:39,816
that typically may happen
a few times across the nation.

865
00:43:39,884 --> 00:43:42,518
And what we've been noting
over the years is,

866
00:43:42,520 --> 00:43:43,653
we have children --

867
00:43:43,655 --> 00:43:47,790
not one, but two, or three,
or four children

868
00:43:47,792 --> 00:43:52,061
within the community
surrounding the test lab

869
00:43:52,063 --> 00:43:53,597
have these
unusual cancers.

870
00:43:53,665 --> 00:43:57,133
Hirsch: Boeing itself
did risk assessments

871
00:43:57,201 --> 00:43:58,401
of what the risk
would be

872
00:43:58,469 --> 00:44:01,103
if someone were to live
on the property.

873
00:44:01,172 --> 00:44:03,706
And their own estimate
for some of the locations

874
00:44:03,775 --> 00:44:05,207
was that the cancer risk

875
00:44:05,276 --> 00:44:08,878
was as high as 96
out of 100 --

876
00:44:08,946 --> 00:44:10,546
meaning, if 100 people
live there,

877
00:44:10,548 --> 00:44:12,816
96 would get cancer
from the contamination.

878
00:44:12,884 --> 00:44:15,418
The EPA and DTSC
normally require

879
00:44:15,486 --> 00:44:18,387
that the risk be kept at
one in a million.

880
00:44:18,456 --> 00:44:21,023
So, you can see how serious
the contamination is,

881
00:44:21,025 --> 00:44:23,859
and how large the problem
would be if they left it behind.

882
00:44:23,928 --> 00:44:27,096
Man:
We found documents that show the
radiation has moved off site,

883
00:44:27,165 --> 00:44:29,965
including at
the Brandeis-Bardin Institute.

884
00:44:30,034 --> 00:44:31,500
Bycel:
My name is Lee Bycel,

885
00:44:31,569 --> 00:44:34,370
and I was the president
of the Brandeis-Bardin Institute

886
00:44:34,372 --> 00:44:37,941
from spring of 2000
to June of 2003.

887
00:44:37,943 --> 00:44:41,777
Prior to accepting the job,
I asked the chair of the board

888
00:44:41,846 --> 00:44:44,413
if there was anything
that I needed to be worry about.

889
00:44:44,415 --> 00:44:46,649
And she said,
"It's all good.

890
00:44:46,718 --> 00:44:49,986
We've had a settlement,
and everything in that land

891
00:44:49,988 --> 00:44:52,756
has been cleaned up, and
there's nothing to worry about."

892
00:44:52,823 --> 00:44:55,524
I think one of the most
surprising documents

893
00:44:55,593 --> 00:44:59,930
we unearthed was an internal
report commissioned by the camp

894
00:44:59,997 --> 00:45:04,066
that proved there was a lot of
contamination from Santa Susanna

895
00:45:04,135 --> 00:45:06,402
that ran down into
this children's camp.

896
00:45:06,471 --> 00:45:08,904
And it was the basis
for the camp

897
00:45:08,973 --> 00:45:11,407
suing the owners
of the field lab,

898
00:45:11,476 --> 00:45:14,277
and then secretly settling
that lawsuit.

899
00:45:14,345 --> 00:45:16,747
So, when I hear about
a settlement,

900
00:45:16,814 --> 00:45:19,415
what comes to mind is that
there's liability there.

901
00:45:19,484 --> 00:45:22,251
We don't often want to hear
the dark side of things.

902
00:45:22,320 --> 00:45:25,022
We don't often want to hear
that there's something wrong.

903
00:45:25,089 --> 00:45:27,089
They have not
been transparent

904
00:45:27,091 --> 00:45:29,892
in exactly what's going on
up there -- even now.

905
00:45:29,961 --> 00:45:34,997
How can one person be diagnosed
with thyroid cancer at age 4,

906
00:45:34,999 --> 00:45:36,900
with two recurrences,

907
00:45:36,968 --> 00:45:40,303
and then end up with
an extremely rare uterine cancer

908
00:45:40,371 --> 00:45:44,306
with no family history
of any kind?

909
00:45:44,375 --> 00:45:47,777
Kowalski: We were four women,
were all cancer-free.

910
00:45:47,845 --> 00:45:53,249
And now, fast forward,
we're only one cancer-free.

911
00:45:53,317 --> 00:45:56,852
I had stage three to four
bladder cancer.

912
00:45:56,921 --> 00:45:58,088
I just was shocked.

913
00:45:58,156 --> 00:46:00,656
And then,
I was so angry.

914
00:46:00,725 --> 00:46:05,361
My mother was diagnosed
with glioblastoma in 2001.

915
00:46:05,429 --> 00:46:09,599
She passed away seven weeks
later, at the age of 58.

916
00:46:09,667 --> 00:46:13,669
And my father was diagnosed with
chronic lymphocytic leukemia

917
00:46:13,738 --> 00:46:14,671
in 2003.

918
00:46:14,739 --> 00:46:17,474
He passed away
in 2010.

919
00:46:17,542 --> 00:46:19,742
Tyler: My middle sister
developed a goiter

920
00:46:19,811 --> 00:46:21,277
when she was
11 years old.

921
00:46:21,345 --> 00:46:24,346
And that later turned into
thyroid cancer.

922
00:46:24,415 --> 00:46:28,351
My father survived his cancer,
and my mother suffered

923
00:46:28,353 --> 00:46:31,954
with ovarian cancer
and colon cancer.

924
00:46:31,956 --> 00:46:33,155
And she couldn't take it,

925
00:46:33,224 --> 00:46:36,793
so my mom actually ended up
committing suicide.

926
00:46:36,861 --> 00:46:39,695
My oldest sister was diagnosed
with brain cancer

927
00:46:39,697 --> 00:46:41,897
and glioblastoma.

928
00:46:41,966 --> 00:46:44,533
As she was dying,
two years later,

929
00:46:44,602 --> 00:46:47,504
her own daughter was diagnosed
with cancer, too.

930
00:46:47,572 --> 00:46:53,943
And she passed just eight months
after my sister.

931
00:46:54,011 --> 00:46:57,713
To hear that your child
has a life-threatening disease

932
00:46:57,782 --> 00:46:59,915
absolutely shakes you
to your core.

933
00:46:59,984 --> 00:47:02,384
It was really, really
devastating to the family.

934
00:47:02,453 --> 00:47:04,486
Every day, it was like
the rug was

935
00:47:04,555 --> 00:47:06,255
being taken out
from under us.

936
00:47:06,324 --> 00:47:09,859
Our world ended
on that day.

937
00:47:09,861 --> 00:47:14,396
And this new reality
had to come into existence.

938
00:47:14,465 --> 00:47:15,931
I thought she was
gonna beat it.

939
00:47:16,000 --> 00:47:17,066
I really did.

940
00:47:20,404 --> 00:47:21,538
She didn't.

941
00:47:24,709 --> 00:47:28,144
I think we're just
in denial.

942
00:47:28,146 --> 00:47:30,279
Endy: Which is a beautiful
thing, to be in denial,

943
00:47:30,281 --> 00:47:35,018
because you get to enjoy
every moment, you know?

944
00:47:35,086 --> 00:47:37,287
So, that's the
best thing.

945
00:47:37,355 --> 00:47:40,156
¶¶

946
00:47:40,158 --> 00:47:42,558
Huff:
I can't just leave.

947
00:47:42,627 --> 00:47:44,560
It's hard to
give everything up

948
00:47:44,629 --> 00:47:46,762
because somebody can't do
the right thing.

949
00:47:46,831 --> 00:47:49,498
Where do you go that
you really know you're safe?

950
00:47:49,500 --> 00:47:52,568
You know, I mean, I moved here
thinking I was safe.

951
00:47:52,570 --> 00:47:53,836
And why should we leave?

952
00:47:53,905 --> 00:47:55,638
We came here
in good faith.

953
00:47:55,706 --> 00:47:56,872
Why should we leave?

954
00:47:56,941 --> 00:47:58,674
They need to
clean up their crap.

955
00:48:00,979 --> 00:48:04,513
You can't sit back,
and pretend it's not real.

956
00:48:04,582 --> 00:48:06,116
You have to
do something.

957
00:48:08,319 --> 00:48:11,188
Woman: Who is the person
who could make a difference

958
00:48:11,255 --> 00:48:12,455
in all of this?

959
00:48:16,060 --> 00:48:18,861
Who can make
a difference?

960
00:48:31,475 --> 00:48:34,945
Melissa: I'm never
not thinking about it.

961
00:48:35,012 --> 00:48:37,279
And I'm never not thinking about
how we can --

962
00:48:37,281 --> 00:48:39,615
we can change things because
it's not only my community

963
00:48:39,684 --> 00:48:40,883
I'm trying to protect.

964
00:48:40,885 --> 00:48:42,018
I mean, we live here.

965
00:48:42,086 --> 00:48:43,887
My -- My kids live here.

966
00:48:43,955 --> 00:48:46,355
Okay, Grace, you ready?
Look both ways.

967
00:48:46,424 --> 00:48:49,692
Good. Let's cross.

968
00:48:49,760 --> 00:48:50,959
I will not.

969
00:48:51,029 --> 00:48:54,164
I never thought I was smart
growing up.

970
00:48:54,231 --> 00:48:55,698
I never trusted myself

971
00:48:55,766 --> 00:48:57,166
and I never really
valued myself.

972
00:48:57,168 --> 00:48:58,233
One of your presents,

973
00:48:58,302 --> 00:49:01,170
you're gonna want
to open sooner.

974
00:49:01,238 --> 00:49:04,773
I do feel
incredibly small.

975
00:49:04,775 --> 00:49:06,575
And it's hard to say that
because

976
00:49:06,577 --> 00:49:09,379
with that comes
the lack of control that I feel.

977
00:49:16,253 --> 00:49:18,255
When Gracie got diagnosed,

978
00:49:18,322 --> 00:49:20,222
there was this one moment
in the hospital

979
00:49:20,291 --> 00:49:23,392
where, you know, she had
a port underneath her skin

980
00:49:23,461 --> 00:49:25,260
and they had to pierce the port
with a needle

981
00:49:25,329 --> 00:49:27,730
to get her, you know, chemo
or blood transfusions

982
00:49:27,732 --> 00:49:29,399
or whatever it was she needed.

983
00:49:29,467 --> 00:49:31,801
But they had a very specific
process of cleaning

984
00:49:31,869 --> 00:49:33,469
and sterilizing
all the equipment

985
00:49:33,471 --> 00:49:35,004
before you attach the two.

986
00:49:35,006 --> 00:49:36,172
And I had, two days earlier,

987
00:49:36,240 --> 00:49:39,108
had had a huge lesson
on how to do it properly

988
00:49:39,177 --> 00:49:42,344
because we had to
do that at home.

989
00:49:42,413 --> 00:49:45,748
And we're in the operating room,

990
00:49:45,750 --> 00:49:48,984
and I saw the nurse
wipe it twice.

991
00:49:48,986 --> 00:49:51,754
And they were supposed to do
at least 10 seconds of that.

992
00:49:51,822 --> 00:49:55,824
And then they're supposed to
let it dry for 20 seconds.

993
00:49:55,893 --> 00:49:58,227
And in that one second,
I realized,

994
00:49:58,295 --> 00:50:00,630
"I need to say something.
I need to stop this woman,

995
00:50:00,698 --> 00:50:02,498
because if she does that
and there's bacteria,

996
00:50:02,567 --> 00:50:04,133
it can go straight
into Gracie's bloodstream

997
00:50:04,202 --> 00:50:07,938
through her heart,
it can kill her."

998
00:50:08,005 --> 00:50:10,173
In that same exact second,
I thought,

999
00:50:10,241 --> 00:50:11,640
"If I say something,
she'll say,

1000
00:50:11,709 --> 00:50:12,875
'What do you know?
You're not trained.

1001
00:50:12,944 --> 00:50:13,976
I'm a nurse, you're not.
How dare you.

1002
00:50:14,045 --> 00:50:15,578
I'm an authority figure.
You're not.

1003
00:50:15,646 --> 00:50:17,180
I'm gonna embarrass you
for bringing this up

1004
00:50:17,248 --> 00:50:18,581
and rocking the boat.'"

1005
00:50:23,387 --> 00:50:27,089
And as she's going together,

1006
00:50:27,157 --> 00:50:29,925
I didn't --
I didn't do anything.

1007
00:50:29,994 --> 00:50:31,827
Because I ended up
being more afraid

1008
00:50:31,896 --> 00:50:36,031
of what she would say
than protecting my daughter.

1009
00:50:36,100 --> 00:50:37,733
And thank God nothing happened,

1010
00:50:37,802 --> 00:50:40,602
but I swore that moment

1011
00:50:40,671 --> 00:50:42,805
I will never,
ever let my children

1012
00:50:42,874 --> 00:50:46,041
be put in danger because
I was too scared to speak up.

1013
00:50:48,746 --> 00:50:51,348
And I think that was the day
I decided

1014
00:50:51,415 --> 00:50:52,948
I'm gonna hurt either way.

1015
00:50:53,017 --> 00:50:54,216
I might as well
make a difference.

1016
00:50:54,218 --> 00:50:57,086
I have
Melissa Bumstead.

1017
00:50:57,155 --> 00:50:59,187
-Melissa Bumstead...
-Melissa Bumstead...

1018
00:50:59,257 --> 00:51:03,158
I hope I'm not talking too fast,
but I'm pretty nervous.

1019
00:51:03,227 --> 00:51:04,961
This is alarming,
and we are concerned --

1020
00:51:04,963 --> 00:51:06,429
the cancer moms in my community.

1021
00:51:06,497 --> 00:51:08,330
I mean, these children
are on my street.

1022
00:51:08,399 --> 00:51:09,632
I've had it.

1023
00:51:09,700 --> 00:51:17,640
[ Singing indistinctly ]

1024
00:51:17,708 --> 00:51:20,142
A group of seven mothers and I,

1025
00:51:20,211 --> 00:51:22,044
not really understanding
what we were doing,

1026
00:51:22,113 --> 00:51:23,679
came to our first DTSC,

1027
00:51:23,747 --> 00:51:25,514
Department of
Toxic Substance Control,

1028
00:51:25,583 --> 00:51:27,616
meeting to find out
what is wrong?

1029
00:51:27,618 --> 00:51:29,451
Are we in danger?

1030
00:51:29,453 --> 00:51:31,887
And that was the first day
I realized we are in danger.

1031
00:51:31,956 --> 00:51:33,856
Through the change.org petition,

1032
00:51:33,858 --> 00:51:36,658
we started to get traction
and people started to care,

1033
00:51:36,727 --> 00:51:39,028
and I realized we weren't
alone in this fight.

1034
00:51:42,133 --> 00:51:44,400
We're here because of numerous
failures of regulators

1035
00:51:44,402 --> 00:51:45,534
to protect the public.

1036
00:51:45,603 --> 00:51:47,002
Reasonable people look at this
and say

1037
00:51:47,004 --> 00:51:48,538
"This -- This should not
be happening."

1038
00:51:48,605 --> 00:51:49,972
I got up there
and I was shaking my hand.

1039
00:51:49,974 --> 00:51:51,607
"How dare you do this
to my community?

1040
00:51:51,609 --> 00:51:54,009
You have lied about this,
tried to confuse all of us.

1041
00:51:54,078 --> 00:51:55,477
Why would you do this to us?"

1042
00:51:55,546 --> 00:51:56,979
Because it's cheaper for Boeing

1043
00:51:57,048 --> 00:51:59,748
to pay the relatively measly
fees your board imposes

1044
00:51:59,750 --> 00:52:01,350
than to clean up their mess.

1045
00:52:01,418 --> 00:52:03,420
You regulate Boeing,
not the other way around.

1046
00:52:03,487 --> 00:52:05,320
We are a force
to be reckoned with.

1047
00:52:05,389 --> 00:52:09,426
¶ Papa was a rolling stone ¶

1048
00:52:09,493 --> 00:52:13,061
¶ Wherever he laid his hat
was his home ¶

1049
00:52:13,130 --> 00:52:15,364
I've really changed.
I've really healed.

1050
00:52:15,432 --> 00:52:18,033
And now I'm willing to
have confrontation,

1051
00:52:18,102 --> 00:52:19,468
not for confrontation's sake,

1052
00:52:19,470 --> 00:52:22,504
but to protect people
that I care about.

1053
00:52:22,573 --> 00:52:25,841
You know, I still
wanted to throw up afterwards.

1054
00:52:25,843 --> 00:52:27,075
She's always been fierce.

1055
00:52:27,144 --> 00:52:29,545
Her motivation to never stop

1056
00:52:29,547 --> 00:52:31,113
just keeps getting stronger
and stronger.

1057
00:52:31,181 --> 00:52:33,515
Melissa Bumstead
is a superhero.

1058
00:52:33,517 --> 00:52:34,717
I've never met
anyone like her.

1059
00:52:34,785 --> 00:52:36,185
She's the face of this cleanup.

1060
00:52:36,187 --> 00:52:37,452
She's got to keep going.

1061
00:52:37,521 --> 00:52:39,989
People like Melissa will
change the tide of this fight,

1062
00:52:40,057 --> 00:52:41,924
and I know that
she has changed it already.

1063
00:52:41,992 --> 00:52:45,227
There's nothing like a mom
wanting to protect her children.

1064
00:52:45,297 --> 00:52:48,330
There's no force on Earth
that is more powerful.

1065
00:52:48,399 --> 00:52:51,400
Melissa: My daughter went
through excruciating pain,

1066
00:52:51,468 --> 00:52:54,770
and she buried two
of her friends last year.

1067
00:52:54,839 --> 00:52:58,173
We are praying to God
that we finally get the cleanup

1068
00:52:58,175 --> 00:53:00,008
because sometimes
I can't sleep at night

1069
00:53:00,077 --> 00:53:03,011
worrying that my children
are in danger.

1070
00:53:03,013 --> 00:53:05,014
And I know that
I'm not the only one.

1071
00:53:14,425 --> 00:53:17,060
Esparza: But what people maybe
don't remember

1072
00:53:17,127 --> 00:53:21,363
is that we're fitting a lifetime
into a year

1073
00:53:21,432 --> 00:53:23,432
or two
or three or five.

1074
00:53:23,434 --> 00:53:24,766
-Yes.
-And that, you know...

1075
00:53:24,835 --> 00:53:27,436
-So powerful, Gillian.
-...predict the future.

1076
00:53:27,438 --> 00:53:30,105
And that's true.
It's true for all of us.

1077
00:53:30,107 --> 00:53:32,341
Hammersley: One of the things
that I wish we could have done

1078
00:53:32,343 --> 00:53:35,912
because she was in the process
of getting a second wish granted

1079
00:53:35,980 --> 00:53:39,982
and her wish was to go was to go
to Kleinfeld's in New York

1080
00:53:39,984 --> 00:53:42,185
and try on wedding dresses
because her favorite show

1081
00:53:42,253 --> 00:53:44,319
was "Say Yes to the Dress."
-Right.

1082
00:53:44,388 --> 00:53:46,688
And we would watch it
in the hospital all the time.

1083
00:53:46,757 --> 00:53:49,325
And we got approved
and we were planning it

1084
00:53:49,327 --> 00:53:52,594
in January of last year.

1085
00:53:52,663 --> 00:53:54,530
And we were gonna
try to go in April.

1086
00:53:54,532 --> 00:53:55,932
Yeah.

1087
00:53:56,000 --> 00:53:58,868
But --
But she didn't get to,

1088
00:53:58,936 --> 00:54:01,770
and it sometimes is really hard
because I go, "Gosh,

1089
00:54:01,839 --> 00:54:03,538
she never got
to try on a wedding dress.

1090
00:54:03,607 --> 00:54:08,810
She never -- She'll never get to
walk down the aisle."

1091
00:54:08,879 --> 00:54:11,279
Like you said, we're trying
to fit in a lifetime.

1092
00:54:11,349 --> 00:54:14,216
Right.
In just a small
number of years,

1093
00:54:14,285 --> 00:54:17,287
and that's --
that's so powerful.

1094
00:54:17,354 --> 00:54:24,494
¶¶

1095
00:54:24,561 --> 00:54:28,230
The day she passed away,
my husband and I,

1096
00:54:28,299 --> 00:54:32,000
we weren't -- we weren't ready
to go home.

1097
00:54:32,069 --> 00:54:34,370
We left her at the hospital
and that was the hardest thing

1098
00:54:34,438 --> 00:54:38,573
we ever had to do
was to leave there without her.

1099
00:54:38,642 --> 00:54:41,311
It was so hard
to trust in anything,

1100
00:54:41,378 --> 00:54:45,447
because all you feel
is that tangible loss.

1101
00:54:45,516 --> 00:54:48,917
Keep praying and stay strong.

1102
00:54:52,589 --> 00:54:55,423
Hammersley: I tried to get to
a protest the other day,

1103
00:54:55,493 --> 00:54:59,194
but my body wouldn't let me.

1104
00:54:59,196 --> 00:55:01,596
Melissa and I
tell each other all the time,

1105
00:55:01,665 --> 00:55:03,999
like, "Just do what you can,
and that's okay.

1106
00:55:04,068 --> 00:55:06,134
And don't feel bad."

1107
00:55:06,136 --> 00:55:08,671
But it was hard because
I continued to feel guilty

1108
00:55:08,739 --> 00:55:10,405
because I was like,

1109
00:55:10,474 --> 00:55:15,744
"This -- This fight doesn't stop
just because I do."

1110
00:55:15,813 --> 00:55:20,550
But watching what Melissa
has done over this last year

1111
00:55:20,617 --> 00:55:23,285
has just been remarkable.

1112
00:55:25,556 --> 00:55:27,756
Being a mom is hard enough.

1113
00:55:27,825 --> 00:55:31,327
Being a mom of a childhood
cancer makes it harder.

1114
00:55:31,395 --> 00:55:34,162
Then being a mom who's trying
to protect all the kids

1115
00:55:34,231 --> 00:55:38,568
in her community from
some insidious exposure --

1116
00:55:38,635 --> 00:55:42,371
the level of responsibility
you end up taking on and feeling

1117
00:55:42,373 --> 00:55:48,310
is daunting and draining
and overwhelming.

1118
00:55:48,379 --> 00:55:50,746
I've seen the toll
that it's taken on her

1119
00:55:50,814 --> 00:55:54,583
because it's frustrating
when people don't listen.

1120
00:55:54,585 --> 00:55:56,351
But she still gets up
and she still fights,

1121
00:55:56,420 --> 00:56:01,189
and she still
is pushing so hard

1122
00:56:01,258 --> 00:56:03,325
because she's watched
her friends

1123
00:56:03,327 --> 00:56:04,927
bury their children.

1124
00:56:04,929 --> 00:56:12,068
¶¶

1125
00:56:12,136 --> 00:56:19,375
¶¶

1126
00:56:24,481 --> 00:56:31,486
Duffield: Melissa is the key
to the cleanup.

1127
00:56:31,555 --> 00:56:37,759
Melissa now is leading
the community in this effort,

1128
00:56:37,761 --> 00:56:41,497
and her voice is critical

1129
00:56:41,499 --> 00:56:43,166
and the leadership
that she's shown

1130
00:56:43,233 --> 00:56:45,834
in organizing her community
is critical,

1131
00:56:45,903 --> 00:56:50,506
and that will make
or break everything.

1132
00:56:53,076 --> 00:56:57,447
Anything else that is worth
putting a flag on?

1133
00:56:57,514 --> 00:56:59,781
I was thinking
something like this

1134
00:56:59,783 --> 00:57:02,184
might even be good
to put out to the community

1135
00:57:02,186 --> 00:57:04,052
who are trying to figure out
how to message it

1136
00:57:04,054 --> 00:57:05,321
to hit the right target,

1137
00:57:05,389 --> 00:57:07,590
and we don't really know
what the right next target is.

1138
00:57:07,658 --> 00:57:10,459
Right.
And then randomly,
she had an idea...

1139
00:57:10,461 --> 00:57:14,529
Hirsch: I admire Melissa
more than I can begin to say.

1140
00:57:14,598 --> 00:57:16,665
She's taken
this personal tragedy

1141
00:57:16,734 --> 00:57:19,202
and used that as motivation

1142
00:57:19,269 --> 00:57:22,271
and energy to try
to protect others.

1143
00:57:22,339 --> 00:57:24,673
And I've been in meetings
where Melissa and Grace

1144
00:57:24,742 --> 00:57:27,642
have gone to meet
with state senators,

1145
00:57:27,711 --> 00:57:30,278
and they touched their hearts
some.

1146
00:57:30,280 --> 00:57:33,615
It becomes much easier to do
what a polluter wants you to do

1147
00:57:33,684 --> 00:57:35,817
if you don't see
who gets hurt from it.

1148
00:57:35,886 --> 00:57:38,020
Duffield: We really have to
look to our decision makers

1149
00:57:38,088 --> 00:57:41,089
to commit to us that the site
will be fully cleaned up

1150
00:57:41,158 --> 00:57:44,493
in a timely manner and that
they will make that a priority.

1151
00:57:44,495 --> 00:57:45,861
How did you feel
about the meeting, Melissa?

1152
00:57:51,835 --> 00:57:54,837
These hundreds of thousands
of signatures on the petition

1153
00:57:54,905 --> 00:57:56,972
have turned things around
quite a bit.

1154
00:57:57,041 --> 00:57:58,174
The question is, is it enough?

1155
00:58:05,083 --> 00:58:08,650
[<i> Speaking indistinctly</i>
<i> on telephone</i> ]

1156
00:58:08,719 --> 00:58:11,587
Hmm. Mm-hmm.

1157
00:58:14,925 --> 00:58:16,792
Well, it sounds like
they're driving through

1158
00:58:16,794 --> 00:58:19,527
the campaign trail,
and we fit in it.

1159
00:58:19,597 --> 00:58:21,796
He said that they're gonna bring
a lot of film cameras,

1160
00:58:21,865 --> 00:58:23,865
national news.

1161
00:58:23,934 --> 00:58:26,001
Okay, and so what if they say
he's not ready to sign?

1162
00:58:26,003 --> 00:58:30,071
Like they already know
he's not ready to sign?

1163
00:58:30,140 --> 00:58:33,442
But that's the conversation
that he might go to immediately

1164
00:58:33,511 --> 00:58:35,711
because I'm going to call him.
He asked that I would call.

1165
00:58:35,779 --> 00:58:38,413
Hi, hon.
How you doing?

1166
00:58:38,482 --> 00:58:40,950
Right.

1167
00:58:41,018 --> 00:58:43,351
Yep. Yep, yep.

1168
00:58:43,353 --> 00:58:45,587
[<i> Speaking indistinctly</i>
<i> on telephone</i> ]

1169
00:58:45,589 --> 00:58:47,690
[ Water running ]

1170
00:58:47,758 --> 00:58:50,292
Okay. Okay. Right.

1171
00:58:53,964 --> 00:58:55,030
Okay.

1172
00:58:55,098 --> 00:58:56,064
Okay, yeah.

1173
00:58:56,132 --> 00:58:57,866
Good, I mean,
at least I --

1174
00:59:02,706 --> 00:59:05,440
Okay. Thanks so much, you guys.
I so appreciate you.

1175
00:59:05,509 --> 00:59:09,044
All right. All right.
Bye.

1176
00:59:09,113 --> 00:59:11,313
[ Sighs ]

1177
00:59:11,315 --> 00:59:12,748
Hey, hon.

1178
00:59:25,929 --> 00:59:29,597
Melissa: I got a call from
John Cox's campaign manager.

1179
00:59:29,667 --> 00:59:31,533
They weren't really making
a huge effort,

1180
00:59:31,535 --> 00:59:33,935
and now it's four days
before the election,

1181
00:59:34,004 --> 00:59:36,005
and all of a sudden
they're, like, hounding me

1182
00:59:36,073 --> 00:59:39,475
to come to host this thing
where Cox can step in

1183
00:59:39,543 --> 00:59:41,878
with all these,
you know, crying cancer moms.

1184
00:59:41,945 --> 00:59:44,613
And it was just so much pressure
in such a short amount of time

1185
00:59:44,681 --> 00:59:46,081
to try to figure things out.

1186
00:59:46,149 --> 00:59:47,882
You know, Denise has been great
and she's saying,

1187
00:59:47,951 --> 00:59:50,019
"Melissa, you know, in the end,
this has to be your call

1188
00:59:50,087 --> 00:59:51,621
because this is your community

1189
00:59:51,688 --> 00:59:53,756
and you need to do
what you feel is right."

1190
00:59:53,824 --> 00:59:55,625
And then Dan's going like,
"You can't do this.

1191
00:59:55,692 --> 01:00:00,095
You know, you're walking
into a trap," essentially.

1192
01:00:00,163 --> 01:00:02,030
And so when I got that word,

1193
01:00:02,099 --> 01:00:03,431
I called them up and said,

1194
01:00:03,500 --> 01:00:05,902
"I prayed about it.
I don't feel good about it.

1195
01:00:05,969 --> 01:00:07,703
I'm sorry. I just can't do it."

1196
01:00:07,705 --> 01:00:10,372
And so I canceled.

1197
01:00:10,440 --> 01:00:12,240
I hate that.
I hate that politics

1198
01:00:12,242 --> 01:00:14,242
has to be part of anything I do,
to be honest.

1199
01:00:14,311 --> 01:00:17,912
I just like to be honest
and do what I feel is right

1200
01:00:17,981 --> 01:00:20,382
and kind of always
have my cards out.

1201
01:00:20,450 --> 01:00:21,850
I don't even know
if I made the right choice,

1202
01:00:21,852 --> 01:00:24,319
and now people are mad at me,
and I don't even know

1203
01:00:24,388 --> 01:00:25,854
if they're right or wrong.
And I don't know anything.

1204
01:00:25,922 --> 01:00:28,858
I just feel like
I don't know anything.

1205
01:00:28,925 --> 01:00:30,792
And then Dan saying, like --

1206
01:00:30,861 --> 01:00:32,728
I know he was trying to be nice,
but I kind of wish he hadn't.

1207
01:00:32,796 --> 01:00:35,063
He said, "You know, it's kind of
on your shoulders now, Melissa.

1208
01:00:35,132 --> 01:00:37,599
You've got to make this happen
or we're all gonna lose."

1209
01:00:37,601 --> 01:00:39,401
And I was like...

1210
01:00:39,469 --> 01:00:40,869
You know, some people
are trying to say, like,

1211
01:00:40,938 --> 01:00:43,071
"Oh, these people are using you
and these people are using you."

1212
01:00:43,073 --> 01:00:47,342
And I'm a very small person.

1213
01:00:47,344 --> 01:00:48,943
You know, I'm --

1214
01:00:49,012 --> 01:00:52,947
This is not what I thought
my life would be.

1215
01:00:53,016 --> 01:00:56,418
And I feel so little
and I feel so powerless

1216
01:00:56,486 --> 01:01:01,489
right now, and doesn't stop.

1217
01:01:01,491 --> 01:01:03,826
And then I have these
little times of melting down,

1218
01:01:03,894 --> 01:01:07,830
and then I pack it up
and wash my face.

1219
01:01:07,898 --> 01:01:10,165
And then I go pick up
the kids from school

1220
01:01:10,167 --> 01:01:11,733
and life just moves on.

1221
01:01:15,639 --> 01:01:17,238
I think that's all
I have to say.

1222
01:01:17,307 --> 01:01:23,645
¶¶

1223
01:01:23,713 --> 01:01:26,982
I've been dealing with
the Santa Susana facility

1224
01:01:26,984 --> 01:01:30,318
for 39 years.

1225
01:01:30,320 --> 01:01:33,455
I tried to walk away
from the Santa Susana issue

1226
01:01:33,523 --> 01:01:34,923
several years ago.

1227
01:01:34,992 --> 01:01:36,125
After the AOC was signed,

1228
01:01:36,193 --> 01:01:38,993
I thought there was no real need
for me to continue,

1229
01:01:39,062 --> 01:01:40,996
it was gonna get cleaned up.

1230
01:01:40,998 --> 01:01:42,798
And then when
the Brown administration

1231
01:01:42,866 --> 01:01:46,801
started to undo it,
I failed at trying to stop them.

1232
01:01:46,870 --> 01:01:51,473
But I have not been able
to somehow break what I feel

1233
01:01:51,541 --> 01:01:53,608
is a promise I made
to those people.

1234
01:01:53,677 --> 01:01:56,946
Even though it was a promise I
had no idea could take so long.

1235
01:01:57,013 --> 01:02:00,215
Duffield: Santa Susana is not
for the faint-hearted.

1236
01:02:00,217 --> 01:02:04,753
It's a long,
complicated struggle.

1237
01:02:04,755 --> 01:02:06,688
I'm an advocate.

1238
01:02:06,757 --> 01:02:08,890
We've been working for 30 years
with other groups

1239
01:02:08,892 --> 01:02:11,359
who've invested
a similar amount of time.

1240
01:02:11,428 --> 01:02:17,565
And so it's hard to not also
wonder, you know, what more --

1241
01:02:17,567 --> 01:02:21,036
is there anything more
that could have been done?

1242
01:02:21,104 --> 01:02:24,139
Hirsch: It's a fight between
those who have conscience

1243
01:02:24,207 --> 01:02:29,477
and those who whose concern
is primarily power and profit.

1244
01:02:29,545 --> 01:02:32,313
These fights never end.

1245
01:02:32,382 --> 01:02:35,450
And if you don't fight them,
you always lose.

1246
01:02:35,452 --> 01:02:44,993
¶¶

1247
01:02:45,062 --> 01:02:54,602
¶¶

1248
01:02:54,671 --> 01:03:04,145
¶¶

1249
01:03:04,214 --> 01:03:08,016
Reporter:
Right now, this fire is still
growing pretty quickly here,

1250
01:03:08,084 --> 01:03:11,920
blowing out of
the north-northeast.

1251
01:03:11,989 --> 01:03:16,491
And it's still continuing
at about 35 to 40 miles an hour.

1252
01:03:16,560 --> 01:03:17,827
We're watching
and we're looking at

1253
01:03:17,894 --> 01:03:20,562
some of these hotspots out here,
and it is very disheartening

1254
01:03:20,630 --> 01:03:23,498
for any of these folks
that are here living nearby.

1255
01:03:23,567 --> 01:03:28,738
¶¶

1256
01:03:28,805 --> 01:03:31,539
Reporter #2: The Woolsey Fire,
now over 30000 acres burnt.

1257
01:03:31,541 --> 01:03:33,374
Reporter #3: It's just
a monster, a nightmare out here.

1258
01:03:33,443 --> 01:03:36,110
Reporter #4:
This entire neighborhood
has been obliterated.

1259
01:03:36,112 --> 01:03:38,179
All the mountains
around here are scorched.

1260
01:03:38,181 --> 01:03:40,849
Reporter #5: Winds out here not
really helping the situation.

1261
01:03:40,851 --> 01:03:42,751
Reporter #6: This fire is fast.

1262
01:03:42,819 --> 01:03:45,453
It is fueled by
those Santa Ana winds.

1263
01:03:45,523 --> 01:03:47,089
Reporter #7:
Flames continuing to burn.

1264
01:03:47,157 --> 01:03:50,592
We have been this really
just run down the hillside.

1265
01:03:50,660 --> 01:03:54,130
You really can see how vast
this wildfire is,

1266
01:03:54,197 --> 01:03:57,132
threatening tens of thousands
of homes.

1267
01:03:57,200 --> 01:04:00,735
Reporter #8: Firefighters are
doing everything they can

1268
01:04:00,804 --> 01:04:02,537
to slow this thing down.

1269
01:04:02,606 --> 01:04:05,073
This fire here is still
being very stubborn.

1270
01:04:05,142 --> 01:04:07,877
Working its way out of
the Rocketdyne complex

1271
01:04:07,944 --> 01:04:09,811
over in the Bell Canyon.

1272
01:04:09,880 --> 01:04:12,381
[ Speaks indistinctly ]

1273
01:04:12,449 --> 01:04:20,088
¶¶

1274
01:04:20,090 --> 01:04:23,425
And just see how terrible the
air quality is out here as well.

1275
01:04:23,427 --> 01:04:25,526
We had to get up to about
10,000 feet just to get some

1276
01:04:25,595 --> 01:04:28,730
clear air
to breathe around here.

1277
01:04:28,799 --> 01:04:31,566
Our worst fear for 15 years,

1278
01:04:31,635 --> 01:04:33,901
that if a fire ever happened
at the lab,

1279
01:04:33,971 --> 01:04:36,038
it would be the easiest way
for those contaminants

1280
01:04:36,106 --> 01:04:37,572
to get to the public.

1281
01:04:37,641 --> 01:04:39,007
And here it's happened.

1282
01:04:47,584 --> 01:04:49,717
Reporter:
There are three questions
that we're investigating

1283
01:04:49,786 --> 01:04:51,819
about the devastating
Woolsey Fire --

1284
01:04:51,888 --> 01:04:53,988
where and how
did the fire start,

1285
01:04:54,057 --> 01:04:56,190
and is the smoke,
the smoke that is still

1286
01:04:56,259 --> 01:04:58,193
rising from the ground, toxic?

1287
01:04:58,262 --> 01:05:00,528
There is mounting evidence
that the fire started

1288
01:05:00,597 --> 01:05:02,464
at the Santa Susana Field Lab.

1289
01:05:02,532 --> 01:05:04,133
There is growing concern tonight

1290
01:05:04,200 --> 01:05:06,801
over toxic fallout
from the Woolsey Fire.

1291
01:05:06,803 --> 01:05:08,202
Reporter #2:
Government officials say

1292
01:05:08,271 --> 01:05:10,205
testing shows the air is safe.

1293
01:05:10,273 --> 01:05:13,208
Some doctors and advocates
call that a smoke screen.

1294
01:05:13,210 --> 01:05:15,677
Dodge: Smoke from any brush fire
is dangerous to inhale.

1295
01:05:15,745 --> 01:05:18,747
In this case, with these added,
very hazardous elements,

1296
01:05:18,815 --> 01:05:19,947
it makes it far more dangerous.

1297
01:05:20,017 --> 01:05:21,050
Reporter #3: A statement today

1298
01:05:21,117 --> 01:05:23,484
from the Department of
Toxic Substances Control

1299
01:05:23,553 --> 01:05:25,087
says initial tests show...

1300
01:05:25,155 --> 01:05:27,055
Reporter #4: ...official news
release claimed there was no --

1301
01:05:27,124 --> 01:05:29,190
Reporter #3: ...no risk
to people living nearby.

1302
01:05:29,259 --> 01:05:31,826
It did not appear
to be a hazard to the public.

1303
01:05:31,895 --> 01:05:34,496
No discernible signs of
radiation.

1304
01:05:34,564 --> 01:05:37,233
The potential hazard
of major release

1305
01:05:37,300 --> 01:05:39,767
into the environment
was just not there.

1306
01:05:39,769 --> 01:05:42,104
What was significant about
the Woolsey Fire

1307
01:05:42,172 --> 01:05:44,572
is that it started
on the property

1308
01:05:44,641 --> 01:05:47,275
of the Santa Susana
Field Laboratory.

1309
01:05:47,344 --> 01:05:52,848
It's very distressing
when you know how terribly

1310
01:05:52,916 --> 01:05:56,851
polluted it is to then turn on
the television

1311
01:05:56,853 --> 01:05:59,053
and see it in flames.

1312
01:05:59,122 --> 01:06:03,124
After the fire, you know,
80% of the site burned.

1313
01:06:03,126 --> 01:06:07,795
We have learned since then that
NASA took down tanks and piping

1314
01:06:07,797 --> 01:06:11,532
and had moved a fire station
that, had they been in place,

1315
01:06:11,601 --> 01:06:13,435
could have put that fire out.

1316
01:06:13,503 --> 01:06:15,436
Regardless of what happens
to the site,

1317
01:06:15,438 --> 01:06:18,606
it's always going to be
in a fire-risk area.

1318
01:06:18,675 --> 01:06:22,343
So why one would remove
water tanks and piping,

1319
01:06:22,412 --> 01:06:23,679
I don't know.

1320
01:06:44,634 --> 01:06:48,137
Duffield: And after the fire,
DTSC released an interim report.

1321
01:06:48,204 --> 01:06:49,538
For them to release a report

1322
01:06:49,606 --> 01:06:52,308
that shows them doing
air monitoring after the fire

1323
01:06:52,375 --> 01:06:53,875
is silly.

1324
01:06:53,944 --> 01:06:55,743
The greatest risk
was during a fire.

1325
01:06:55,745 --> 01:06:59,647
They have now admitted that
the burned vegetation

1326
01:06:59,716 --> 01:07:02,184
made the contaminants
in the soil more mobile,

1327
01:07:02,252 --> 01:07:05,887
and that's part of the reason
why we have these 57 exceedances

1328
01:07:05,955 --> 01:07:08,590
in storm water runoff
after the fire.

1329
01:07:08,658 --> 01:07:11,727
But the bottom line is
if it had been cleaned up

1330
01:07:11,795 --> 01:07:14,595
as it should have been by 2017,

1331
01:07:14,664 --> 01:07:16,865
we wouldn't be having
this conversation.

1332
01:07:19,402 --> 01:07:21,869
Dodge: The vegetation on site
is contaminated.

1333
01:07:21,871 --> 01:07:23,806
And as the vegetation burned,

1334
01:07:23,873 --> 01:07:26,674
it then aerosolized high up
into the atmosphere

1335
01:07:26,743 --> 01:07:29,077
and then was able to spread
across the basin.

1336
01:07:29,079 --> 01:07:32,613
Our concern, admittedly
for the fire

1337
01:07:32,682 --> 01:07:34,015
was that the contamination

1338
01:07:34,017 --> 01:07:37,051
probably spread mainly
the toxic chemicals,

1339
01:07:37,053 --> 01:07:39,188
which come from
the burning of fuels

1340
01:07:39,255 --> 01:07:41,356
and the rocket engine firings.

1341
01:07:41,358 --> 01:07:45,626
The dangerous levels of exposure
to chemical contaminants

1342
01:07:45,695 --> 01:07:48,630
somewhat follow a similar
pattern to the radionuclides.

1343
01:07:48,698 --> 01:07:50,966
Every level increases the risk.

1344
01:08:30,907 --> 01:08:32,408
My name is Mike Stenstrom.

1345
01:08:32,475 --> 01:08:34,675
I'm a member of
the expert panel.

1346
01:08:34,744 --> 01:08:37,612
And so I'd like to say that
we've been involved in this,

1347
01:08:37,681 --> 01:08:42,050
the panel has, since almost
the inception of the fire.

1348
01:08:42,052 --> 01:08:43,484
We are an independent panel.

1349
01:08:43,554 --> 01:08:47,288
We are funded by Boeing,

1350
01:08:47,357 --> 01:08:51,092
and we've been using
Geosyntec to assist us.

1351
01:08:51,161 --> 01:08:55,963
But, you see, there's a trend
of decreasing exceedances

1352
01:08:56,032 --> 01:08:57,900
as we move forward in time.

1353
01:08:57,967 --> 01:08:59,901
Man: Concentrations over
the course of the season

1354
01:08:59,969 --> 01:09:02,304
are returning
to pre-fire levels.

1355
01:09:02,372 --> 01:09:04,505
We have what we have here
is a lot of exceedances

1356
01:09:04,507 --> 01:09:07,909
in areas where you don't see
a lot of legacy contamination.

1357
01:09:07,977 --> 01:09:09,812
So the system's
already recovering,

1358
01:09:09,879 --> 01:09:11,346
and we're happy about that.

1359
01:09:11,414 --> 01:09:13,181
My name is Denise Duffield.
I'm the associate director

1360
01:09:13,249 --> 01:09:16,450
at Physicians for Social
Responsibility of Los Angeles.

1361
01:09:16,519 --> 01:09:19,721
I feel like I'm living
in an alternate universe,

1362
01:09:19,723 --> 01:09:22,790
though, after this very
Orwellian presentation.

1363
01:09:22,859 --> 01:09:27,929
57 exceedances and violations
is astonishing.

1364
01:09:27,997 --> 01:09:31,132
The expert panel
is paid by Boeing.

1365
01:09:31,201 --> 01:09:35,336
That begs a lot of credulity
on their independence.

1366
01:09:35,338 --> 01:09:37,406
It's an open, seeping wound
in our community

1367
01:09:37,473 --> 01:09:39,607
that threatens our public health
every time it rains

1368
01:09:39,676 --> 01:09:41,342
or the wind blows
or the fires burn.

1369
01:09:41,411 --> 01:09:42,543
I live in Simi Valley.

1370
01:09:42,545 --> 01:09:43,611
I have a 3-year-old.

1371
01:09:43,613 --> 01:09:45,813
I'm a Golden State Water
customer.

1372
01:09:45,882 --> 01:09:48,149
I've got groundwater
from below SSFL

1373
01:09:48,217 --> 01:09:50,385
being pumped into my home
with every bath,

1374
01:09:50,453 --> 01:09:52,087
with every meal.

1375
01:09:52,155 --> 01:09:54,223
It's your job to protect
my water source.

1376
01:09:54,290 --> 01:09:56,892
You regulate Boeing,
not the other way around.

1377
01:09:56,960 --> 01:09:58,560
Woman: Thank you.

1378
01:10:02,565 --> 01:10:03,899
I'm a little disappointed today.

1379
01:10:03,966 --> 01:10:06,968
I had actually assumed
that it would be

1380
01:10:06,970 --> 01:10:10,906
an independent panel,
expert panel speaking today.

1381
01:10:10,974 --> 01:10:13,307
I didn't know anything
about politics

1382
01:10:13,376 --> 01:10:15,343
until the last five years,
and I've learned

1383
01:10:15,411 --> 01:10:17,744
that you always have
to follow the money.

1384
01:10:17,746 --> 01:10:21,616
That's the basic understanding
of how America works these days,

1385
01:10:21,684 --> 01:10:23,718
unfortunately,
and I was very disappointed.

1386
01:10:23,787 --> 01:10:26,221
I'm sure their intellect is --

1387
01:10:26,289 --> 01:10:28,657
is better than mine, hands down.

1388
01:10:28,725 --> 01:10:31,426
However,
that's not an independent panel,

1389
01:10:31,428 --> 01:10:33,394
and the people of Los Angeles
deserve better

1390
01:10:33,463 --> 01:10:36,865
on such a critically
important issue.

1391
01:10:36,933 --> 01:10:38,534
We've got a lot of facts.
We know the facts.

1392
01:10:38,601 --> 01:10:40,669
We're all
intelligent people here.

1393
01:10:40,737 --> 01:10:44,205
But I think what is lacking is
courage to do the right thing.

1394
01:10:44,207 --> 01:10:47,475
And so I wanted to bring you
my daughter's beads of courage.

1395
01:10:47,544 --> 01:10:50,077
My daughter is a two-time cancer
survivor at 9 years old.

1396
01:10:50,079 --> 01:10:59,186
¶¶

1397
01:10:59,188 --> 01:11:03,558
I heard a lot of good news
about nominal exceedances,

1398
01:11:03,560 --> 01:11:08,229
but you need to understand that
these exceedances affect us.

1399
01:11:08,297 --> 01:11:10,198
We've come to find out
that our area

1400
01:11:10,266 --> 01:11:13,901
is above the national average
for childhood cancers.

1401
01:11:13,971 --> 01:11:15,971
We've had several
who've passed away

1402
01:11:16,039 --> 01:11:17,905
and this is the cost
of exceedances,

1403
01:11:17,974 --> 01:11:20,975
and I really ask you
to have the courage

1404
01:11:20,977 --> 01:11:24,578
to do the right thing.
Thank you.

1405
01:11:24,647 --> 01:11:26,481
Woman: Thank you.

1406
01:11:34,023 --> 01:11:35,757
Grover: This was part
of what was so amazing

1407
01:11:35,825 --> 01:11:38,159
about this story to me.

1408
01:11:38,228 --> 01:11:41,062
I grew up near the Field Lab.

1409
01:11:41,064 --> 01:11:44,265
Thousands of people have lived
near the Field Lab,

1410
01:11:44,333 --> 01:11:47,335
and most people
have never heard of it.

1411
01:11:47,403 --> 01:11:51,406
The Santa Susana issue
was almost dead,

1412
01:11:51,474 --> 01:11:55,543
and that fire jumpstarted
a whole new round of attention.

1413
01:11:55,611 --> 01:12:02,149
[ Tweeting sound ]

1414
01:12:02,218 --> 01:12:08,155
¶¶

1415
01:12:08,224 --> 01:12:10,425
Millions are learning
about the toxic threat

1416
01:12:10,427 --> 01:12:12,827
from the contaminated
Santa Susana Field Lab,

1417
01:12:12,829 --> 01:12:15,429
all because of tweets from
the Kardashians.

1418
01:12:15,498 --> 01:12:17,498
When the Woolsey Fire hit,
it blew up.

1419
01:12:17,500 --> 01:12:19,233
Without a doubt,
there's new life.

1420
01:12:19,302 --> 01:12:21,703
-People are paying attention.
-People are listening.

1421
01:12:21,771 --> 01:12:24,339
The community support
has radically changed.

1422
01:12:24,408 --> 01:12:25,906
Kim Kardashian tweeted.

1423
01:12:25,908 --> 01:12:28,543
All of a sudden, we've got
100,000 shares on a tweet.

1424
01:12:28,611 --> 01:12:32,047
Man: Kim Kardashian telling her
58 million Twitter followers

1425
01:12:32,114 --> 01:12:34,849
she's shocked and furious
to learn that Woolsey Fire

1426
01:12:34,917 --> 01:12:38,385
started at Santa Susana
and is potentially radioactive.

1427
01:12:38,455 --> 01:12:40,855
The reporting we did brought
some attention,

1428
01:12:40,923 --> 01:12:42,524
but of course, the Kardashians

1429
01:12:42,592 --> 01:12:44,926
can bring the issue
way more attention.

1430
01:12:44,994 --> 01:12:46,294
-People are believing in this,
you know,

1431
01:12:46,363 --> 01:12:47,595
like, this is the real thing.

1432
01:12:47,664 --> 01:12:49,196
We're not just
playing games anymore.

1433
01:12:49,265 --> 01:12:50,431
Come on, guys,

1434
01:12:50,433 --> 01:12:51,732
we're going on the other side of
the side, okay?

1435
01:12:51,801 --> 01:12:53,534
These are all
my other children here.

1436
01:12:53,603 --> 01:12:56,571
I'm seeing enough changes
happening that I am hopeful

1437
01:12:56,639 --> 01:12:59,140
it could be ripped out from
underneath us at any moment.

1438
01:12:59,208 --> 01:13:01,609
I know what it's like
to lose a child with cancer,

1439
01:13:01,678 --> 01:13:05,314
and nobody should ever have
to face that again.

1440
01:13:05,381 --> 01:13:08,282
The Killers:
¶ You can't break me down ¶

1441
01:13:08,284 --> 01:13:10,351
¶ I got gas in the tank ¶

1442
01:13:10,419 --> 01:13:12,753
¶ I got money in the bank ¶

1443
01:13:12,822 --> 01:13:15,589
¶ I got news for you, baby,
you're looking at the man ¶

1444
01:13:15,658 --> 01:13:19,027
It has gone so fast
that I'm still out of breath.

1445
01:13:19,095 --> 01:13:20,761
We're trying to put together
a coalition

1446
01:13:20,830 --> 01:13:22,564
with all
of our elected officials.

1447
01:13:22,632 --> 01:13:25,199
People need to stop passing
the ball, take leadership.

1448
01:13:25,268 --> 01:13:27,902
¶ Who's the man?
Who's the man? ¶

1449
01:13:27,970 --> 01:13:29,704
¶ I'm the man, I'm the man ¶

1450
01:13:29,706 --> 01:13:31,772
¶ Who's the man with the plan? ¶

1451
01:13:31,841 --> 01:13:33,040
¶ I'm the man ¶

1452
01:13:33,042 --> 01:13:35,643
Knack: They are counting on us,
not goodness.

1453
01:13:35,712 --> 01:13:37,379
They're counting on us,
not being able to see

1454
01:13:37,447 --> 01:13:38,779
the bigger picture.

1455
01:13:38,781 --> 01:13:40,915
I really hope we're not
sitting here in 10 years,

1456
01:13:40,984 --> 01:13:44,852
with the follow up of why this
damn thing's been happening.

1457
01:13:44,921 --> 01:13:47,388
We never know what domino
we're setting into effect

1458
01:13:47,390 --> 01:13:49,123
when we just do what we can.

1459
01:13:49,192 --> 01:13:53,795
Secretary, so you're supposed
to be completed by 2017,

1460
01:13:53,863 --> 01:13:56,397
haven't started by 2019.

1461
01:13:56,465 --> 01:13:58,866
Will you come
to the San Fernando Valley

1462
01:13:58,935 --> 01:14:01,669
and explain to people
when this site

1463
01:14:01,738 --> 01:14:02,870
will be cleaned up?

1464
01:14:02,939 --> 01:14:05,539
Man: The clean up timeline
was 2017.

1465
01:14:05,608 --> 01:14:08,742
Back in 2010, it is 2019,
and we haven't even got started,

1466
01:14:08,811 --> 01:14:09,877
There's a level of toxicity,

1467
01:14:09,946 --> 01:14:13,281
the history
that is just depressing.

1468
01:14:13,349 --> 01:14:14,949
I mean, it's a complete mess.

1469
01:14:14,951 --> 01:14:16,884
When I got to say I'm the mom
who started

1470
01:14:16,953 --> 01:14:18,285
the change.org petition,

1471
01:14:18,354 --> 01:14:20,555
we have 650,000 signatures.

1472
01:14:20,557 --> 01:14:23,090
It was like, I'm sorry,
did you say, 250,000?

1473
01:14:23,158 --> 01:14:25,693
No, 650,000.

1474
01:14:25,695 --> 01:14:27,095
All of a sudden they're like,
"Oh, come to the door.

1475
01:14:27,163 --> 01:14:29,697
What was your name again?
Where are you from?"

1476
01:14:29,766 --> 01:14:31,232
It's not about winning
or being right.

1477
01:14:31,234 --> 01:14:33,367
It's about children.

1478
01:14:33,369 --> 01:14:36,770
It's about families,
it's about quality of life.

1479
01:14:36,772 --> 01:14:38,873
¶¶

1480
01:14:54,323 --> 01:14:56,124
I know that there's a risk

1481
01:14:56,192 --> 01:14:58,325
of a large segment
of this community

1482
01:14:58,327 --> 01:15:01,196
and maybe even the larger
Los Angeles area

1483
01:15:01,264 --> 01:15:03,130
looking at this

1484
01:15:03,132 --> 01:15:07,302
and questioning our sanity.

1485
01:15:07,370 --> 01:15:10,138
But I would urge anybody

1486
01:15:10,206 --> 01:15:13,340
to put on your reading glasses
and whip out that 13 pages,

1487
01:15:13,409 --> 01:15:16,077
it's only 13 pages,
2007 EPA report,

1488
01:15:16,079 --> 01:15:19,079
preliminary report at
the Santa Susana Field Lab

1489
01:15:19,148 --> 01:15:20,948
and then call me crazy.

1490
01:15:21,017 --> 01:15:23,150
It is if the officials
have not read the data

1491
01:15:23,152 --> 01:15:25,019
as if they are completely
unaware that we,

1492
01:15:25,021 --> 01:15:26,621
the citizens, could be at risk.

1493
01:15:26,623 --> 01:15:27,922
And that was alarming to me

1494
01:15:27,990 --> 01:15:30,491
because I felt like we weren't
being taken seriously.

1495
01:15:33,029 --> 01:15:37,365
It makes me sick that
these women have given

1496
01:15:37,433 --> 01:15:38,834
so selflessly of themselves

1497
01:15:38,901 --> 01:15:43,571
and a fight -- have fought
and continue to fight.

1498
01:15:43,639 --> 01:15:45,774
This is not what they want
to talk about over dinner.

1499
01:15:45,841 --> 01:15:47,975
They don't want to sit up
and read EPA documents.

1500
01:15:48,044 --> 01:15:50,178
They want to have a good time,
they don't have a barbecue

1501
01:15:50,246 --> 01:15:53,114
and they want to watch
their kids play in the yard.

1502
01:15:53,182 --> 01:15:56,718
And I want that, too.

1503
01:15:58,921 --> 01:16:01,388
I'm sorry. I want that, too,

1504
01:16:01,457 --> 01:16:03,191
and I want that
for my family, but, um...

1505
01:16:05,661 --> 01:16:07,728
I can read.

1506
01:16:07,730 --> 01:16:10,031
I'm not going to pretend
that I didn't read it.

1507
01:16:14,070 --> 01:16:16,338
Sorry.

1508
01:16:21,344 --> 01:16:25,479
Santa Claus is coming!
Santa Claus is coming!

1509
01:16:25,481 --> 01:16:28,082
[ Humming ]

1510
01:16:28,084 --> 01:16:29,216
[ Speaks indistinctly ]

1511
01:16:29,285 --> 01:16:31,552
-Can I have a chocolate?
-Can I have a chocolate?

1512
01:16:31,621 --> 01:16:33,921
You're a good boy!
You're a good boy.

1513
01:16:33,991 --> 01:16:41,295
¶¶

1514
01:16:41,364 --> 01:16:44,398
[ Child speaking indistinctly ]

1515
01:16:44,467 --> 01:16:50,838
[ Indistinct conversations ]

1516
01:16:50,906 --> 01:17:00,180
¶¶

1517
01:17:00,249 --> 01:17:03,151
¶¶

1518
01:17:03,219 --> 01:17:08,123
Blumenfeld: The time is now
to get the ball moving.

1519
01:17:08,190 --> 01:17:11,459
My goal has been to change
and improve, I would say,

1520
01:17:11,527 --> 01:17:14,261
the culture of the Department
of Toxic Substance Control.

1521
01:17:14,330 --> 01:17:16,698
They are the regulator,
they set the clean up standards,

1522
01:17:16,765 --> 01:17:19,667
this is not
a ongoing negotiation.

1523
01:17:19,735 --> 01:17:22,002
The polluters have a role,
they have to pay for it,

1524
01:17:22,071 --> 01:17:24,605
and they have to adhere to
the standards that we have here.

1525
01:17:24,673 --> 01:17:27,342
These entities going in 2007,

1526
01:17:27,410 --> 01:17:30,811
Department of Energy and NASA
in 2010 entered into agreements.

1527
01:17:30,880 --> 01:17:33,013
Those are legally
binding agreements.

1528
01:17:33,015 --> 01:17:35,983
We will hold them
to those agreements.

1529
01:17:36,052 --> 01:17:38,553
-We'll see.
-We'll see. I have no faith.

1530
01:17:38,621 --> 01:17:41,221
Given the length of time
that the cleanup plans

1531
01:17:41,290 --> 01:17:44,658
have been made and broken,
it's always a concern

1532
01:17:44,727 --> 01:17:46,894
that this will go into
another administration.

1533
01:17:46,962 --> 01:17:50,497
They signed a legal
binding document in 2010

1534
01:17:50,566 --> 01:17:52,434
when we thought we won
the victory.

1535
01:17:52,501 --> 01:17:56,303
Additionally, studies performed
after signing the AOC

1536
01:17:56,372 --> 01:18:00,040
identified less contamination
than previously projected.

1537
01:18:00,109 --> 01:18:03,043
We had no idea it was all
going to get thrown upon.

1538
01:18:03,112 --> 01:18:06,781
Child: I am a two-time
cancer survivor.

1539
01:18:06,783 --> 01:18:09,884
It has turned my life upside
down, and I never feel safe

1540
01:18:09,952 --> 01:18:10,984
living here.

1541
01:18:11,054 --> 01:18:13,922
I want to feel safe.

1542
01:18:13,989 --> 01:18:16,858
Folks, this way.

1543
01:18:16,926 --> 01:18:19,359
We're here at the NASA
meeting right now.

1544
01:18:19,428 --> 01:18:21,962
They're trying to justify
why they should be able to lead

1545
01:18:22,031 --> 01:18:26,099
contaminated waste
in our community.

1546
01:18:26,168 --> 01:18:27,401
I want to show you one of

1547
01:18:27,403 --> 01:18:29,269
these justifications
that I can't believe,

1548
01:18:29,338 --> 01:18:33,073
and I've seen a lot of
falsehoods --
Oh, my gosh.

1549
01:18:33,075 --> 01:18:35,276
SEIS found
no discernible differences

1550
01:18:35,344 --> 01:18:37,012
to health and safety.

1551
01:18:37,079 --> 01:18:40,715
Across the action alternatives.
That's absurd.

1552
01:18:40,784 --> 01:18:44,285
NASA claims that under federal
environmental law,

1553
01:18:44,287 --> 01:18:47,689
that they have to look
at different alternative ways

1554
01:18:47,757 --> 01:18:50,958
to clean up the Santa Susana
Field Laboratory.

1555
01:18:51,026 --> 01:18:52,693
They're wrong.

1556
01:18:52,761 --> 01:18:54,095
California has been clear
over the years

1557
01:18:54,163 --> 01:18:55,996
that the level that the site
has to be cleaned up

1558
01:18:56,065 --> 01:18:57,398
to is to background.

1559
01:18:57,466 --> 01:18:59,833
If there is contamination,
it gets cleaned up.

1560
01:18:59,902 --> 01:19:02,769
We clearly signed an agreement
for full cleanup.

1561
01:19:02,839 --> 01:19:07,241
And they have proposed in these
two meetings to break those

1562
01:19:07,243 --> 01:19:09,510
and walk away
from the contamination.

1563
01:19:09,512 --> 01:19:11,678
If they found contamination
on the surface,

1564
01:19:11,747 --> 01:19:13,046
they're saying
we're going to have to dig all

1565
01:19:13,115 --> 01:19:14,516
20 feet down to bedrock

1566
01:19:14,583 --> 01:19:16,450
and that's going to moonscape
the property.

1567
01:19:16,452 --> 01:19:19,988
You don't have to dig 20 feet
down to remove contamination

1568
01:19:20,055 --> 01:19:21,522
that's on the surface.

1569
01:19:21,524 --> 01:19:23,991
They're doing that to try
to scare people about trucks

1570
01:19:24,060 --> 01:19:25,993
and moonscaping
and all of that stuff.

1571
01:19:26,062 --> 01:19:27,461
What NASA and Department
of Energy

1572
01:19:27,530 --> 01:19:29,530
have been doing
in the last few years

1573
01:19:29,532 --> 01:19:31,532
is looking at different
levels of cleanup

1574
01:19:31,600 --> 01:19:32,934
rather than different ways

1575
01:19:33,002 --> 01:19:36,470
of reaching the standards
that California has set.

1576
01:19:36,472 --> 01:19:38,706
Their stated thing
is, oh, we did more work,

1577
01:19:38,708 --> 01:19:40,741
we found more contamination

1578
01:19:40,810 --> 01:19:43,711
that would result in
even more damage.

1579
01:19:43,713 --> 01:19:45,780
So we want to do
the recreational cleanup.

1580
01:19:51,988 --> 01:19:54,923
It's not okay to just
clean it up a little bit,

1581
01:19:54,990 --> 01:19:57,225
it's kind of like you can't
be just a little bit pregnant.

1582
01:19:57,293 --> 01:19:59,760
Either you're radioactive
or you're not.

1583
01:19:59,829 --> 01:20:02,296
NASA's says that it will take
25 years

1584
01:20:02,365 --> 01:20:05,632
to remove this soil that needs
to be removed in order to comply

1585
01:20:05,701 --> 01:20:08,302
with the administrative order
on consent.

1586
01:20:21,450 --> 01:20:23,717
For the Department of Energy
and NASA

1587
01:20:23,786 --> 01:20:28,255
to be successful in walking away
from Santa Susana Field Lab,

1588
01:20:28,257 --> 01:20:31,392
All that has to happen is
that nobody stands in their way.

1589
01:20:31,460 --> 01:20:34,128
[ Indistinct conversations ]

1590
01:20:34,130 --> 01:20:36,064
In order to make informed
public commentary,

1591
01:20:36,131 --> 01:20:37,464
we need to have some visuals.

1592
01:20:37,533 --> 01:20:38,799
When you go to a public place

1593
01:20:38,868 --> 01:20:41,035
and everybody else has
their exhibits set up to come in

1594
01:20:41,103 --> 01:20:42,369
and set up another one.

1595
01:20:42,438 --> 01:20:43,537
I'm on the board of supervisors

1596
01:20:43,606 --> 01:20:45,240
and what we do during
public comments

1597
01:20:45,307 --> 01:20:47,709
is we give an opportunity
a platform.

1598
01:20:47,776 --> 01:20:51,745
If they have a PowerPoint
so they can show these power --
They have an opportunity.

1599
01:20:51,747 --> 01:20:53,080
In public hearings,

1600
01:20:53,149 --> 01:20:56,083
when they were done the way
they used to do them,

1601
01:20:56,151 --> 01:20:57,951
we would stand
in front of the microphone

1602
01:20:58,020 --> 01:21:00,287
and people
before the responsible party,

1603
01:21:00,356 --> 01:21:03,891
before their community members
speak for two minutes,

1604
01:21:03,959 --> 01:21:06,693
and give their input on
the proposal before them.

1605
01:21:06,762 --> 01:21:09,496
And NASA just destroyed
all of that.

1606
01:21:09,498 --> 01:21:12,366
This whole thing was set up
intentionally to prevent people

1607
01:21:12,435 --> 01:21:14,234
from making
informed public comment.

1608
01:21:14,303 --> 01:21:17,504
No presentation only posters
with NASA's propaganda spin.

1609
01:21:17,506 --> 01:21:19,306
The community needs to hear
the truth, and we're the only

1610
01:21:19,375 --> 01:21:20,440
ones who can do it.
I understand that but --

1611
01:21:20,509 --> 01:21:21,775
But we do it as part
of our public comment.

1612
01:21:21,777 --> 01:21:23,110
Great, but they put
the public thing on

1613
01:21:23,112 --> 01:21:24,112
for their
display and everything.

1614
01:21:24,179 --> 01:21:26,046
So all the things
that they set up here --

1615
01:21:26,048 --> 01:21:27,648
This is math that they're not
going to show people.

1616
01:21:27,716 --> 01:21:30,317
What they feel is
it's going to take away from --

1617
01:21:30,386 --> 01:21:32,387
It's a public...
[ speaks indistinctly ]

1618
01:21:32,454 --> 01:21:36,357
Everybody, NASA is preventing
public comment on their EIS

1619
01:21:36,425 --> 01:21:38,558
that breaks
their clean up commitments.

1620
01:21:38,627 --> 01:21:40,461
If people want to be able to
show you

1621
01:21:40,463 --> 01:21:42,863
how they're violating the law

1622
01:21:42,931 --> 01:21:45,866
and NASA's physically blocking
you from seeing it.

1623
01:21:45,935 --> 01:21:47,534
[ Speaks indistinctly ]

1624
01:21:47,604 --> 01:21:48,869
Woman: Free speech!

1625
01:21:48,871 --> 01:21:51,605
-Free speech!
-Free speech!

1626
01:21:51,674 --> 01:21:53,540
Free speech!

1627
01:21:53,609 --> 01:21:55,976
This is live right now,
you guys, this is crazy.

1628
01:21:56,045 --> 01:21:59,680
They set this up in this --
in this kind of a situation

1629
01:21:59,748 --> 01:22:00,982
where we don't have
a microphone

1630
01:22:01,049 --> 01:22:03,817
like we normally do
to say our problems.

1631
01:22:03,819 --> 01:22:06,820
And as the "L.A. Times"
reported...
The court reporter,

1632
01:22:06,888 --> 01:22:09,557
is at a little table
in the corner

1633
01:22:09,625 --> 01:22:13,293
that's not marked trying to
limit public participation,

1634
01:22:13,295 --> 01:22:14,895
prevent the media from knowing

1635
01:22:14,897 --> 01:22:16,630
how much we didn't like
the proposal

1636
01:22:16,632 --> 01:22:18,965
and prevent elected officials
from knowing that, too.

1637
01:22:19,035 --> 01:22:23,104
There's a protocol for how
the public hearings are handled,

1638
01:22:23,172 --> 01:22:25,005
and that's not it.

1639
01:22:25,007 --> 01:22:27,374
The only -- the only option
we have right now

1640
01:22:27,443 --> 01:22:29,710
is to try to read our comments
loudly and that's --

1641
01:22:29,712 --> 01:22:31,111
that's just absurd.

1642
01:22:31,180 --> 01:22:34,981
Man: The majority of its
contamination not cleaned up.

1643
01:22:35,051 --> 01:22:38,018
This is illegal and a direct
threat to public health

1644
01:22:38,020 --> 01:22:39,587
and the environment.

1645
01:22:41,824 --> 01:22:45,426
NASA's search is preparing
the supplemental EIF...

1646
01:22:51,067 --> 01:22:52,200
You should be able to give

1647
01:22:52,267 --> 01:22:54,801
three minutes and then
you can do what you want.

1648
01:22:54,870 --> 01:22:58,339
Woman: Free speech!

1649
01:22:58,407 --> 01:23:00,341
Trespassing?

1650
01:23:00,409 --> 01:23:02,843
This is a public meeting.

1651
01:23:02,912 --> 01:23:06,481
[ Cheering ]

1652
01:23:06,548 --> 01:23:08,949
[ Chanting ] Free speech,
free speech, free speech,

1653
01:23:09,018 --> 01:23:14,288
free speech, free speech!

1654
01:23:33,008 --> 01:23:34,141
In 50 years of
this kind of work,

1655
01:23:34,209 --> 01:23:36,944
I have never experienced
such a thing.

1656
01:23:36,946 --> 01:23:40,847
What NASA knows that what its
proposing to do is indefensible.

1657
01:23:40,916 --> 01:23:43,917
And they took every measure that
they could to prevent the public

1658
01:23:43,919 --> 01:23:44,985
from hearing about it.

1659
01:23:45,053 --> 01:23:48,790
For the responsible parties,

1660
01:23:48,857 --> 01:23:50,891
this is a game.

1661
01:23:50,959 --> 01:23:54,594
NASA and Boeing continue to put
forth a storyline

1662
01:23:54,663 --> 01:23:56,797
that their recommendations,

1663
01:23:56,799 --> 01:24:00,734
their offerings of cleanup
are adequate.

1664
01:24:00,803 --> 01:24:03,338
And we know,
as we've alluded to,

1665
01:24:03,405 --> 01:24:07,342
that so many of the agents there
is absolutely no safe level.

1666
01:24:07,409 --> 01:24:09,409
Again, if there's no safe level

1667
01:24:09,478 --> 01:24:12,813
and you far exceed those levels
on site and again,

1668
01:24:12,881 --> 01:24:16,083
and we know that those
contaminants migrate off site

1669
01:24:16,151 --> 01:24:18,485
under the appropriate
environmental conditions,

1670
01:24:18,487 --> 01:24:21,822
there's no way that can
protect the community around.

1671
01:24:21,890 --> 01:24:24,959
¶¶

1672
01:24:59,194 --> 01:25:00,794
An emenuclear reservationlared
at the Hanford

1673
01:25:00,863 --> 01:25:02,729
in southeastern
Washington state.

1674
01:25:02,798 --> 01:25:05,065
An emergency response
at the Savannah River site.

1675
01:25:05,133 --> 01:25:06,933
Potential exposure
to people living

1676
01:25:06,935 --> 01:25:09,537
near Coldwater Creek
in North St. Louis County.

1677
01:25:09,604 --> 01:25:12,138
Enriched uranium was detected

1678
01:25:12,207 --> 01:25:14,708
inside Zahn's Corner
Middle School.

1679
01:25:14,710 --> 01:25:15,943
Botched cleanup
at San Francisco's

1680
01:25:16,011 --> 01:25:18,278
Hunter's Point
has residents taking matters

1681
01:25:18,280 --> 01:25:19,546
into their own hands.

1682
01:25:19,615 --> 01:25:21,949
There are calls tonight
for a new investigation

1683
01:25:22,017 --> 01:25:25,386
into another possible cancer
cluster in central Indiana.

1684
01:25:25,454 --> 01:25:28,755
Just sit and think that over
and over again,

1685
01:25:28,824 --> 01:25:30,590
this was brought to you
and over and over again

1686
01:25:30,659 --> 01:25:34,294
and we said our kids are sick.

1687
01:25:34,363 --> 01:25:36,296
Something that felt like a very
isolated problem

1688
01:25:36,365 --> 01:25:38,366
in my community,

1689
01:25:38,433 --> 01:25:39,766
it's a little bit
terrifying to realize

1690
01:25:39,768 --> 01:25:41,835
this is happening
all over the country.

1691
01:25:41,904 --> 01:25:45,972
We sat in a room and listened
to people from other areas

1692
01:25:46,041 --> 01:25:50,477
with the exact same issues
the poorly or unlined pits,

1693
01:25:50,546 --> 01:25:53,714
massive dumping,
open air tests.

1694
01:25:53,782 --> 01:25:55,649
I was completely
chilled to my core

1695
01:25:55,651 --> 01:25:59,052
because I realized
this isn't an accident

1696
01:25:59,121 --> 01:26:00,788
nor is it a mistake.

1697
01:26:00,856 --> 01:26:04,859
There are many Santas Susana's
all across this country

1698
01:26:04,927 --> 01:26:08,162
that remain highly contaminated
and threatening communities

1699
01:26:08,230 --> 01:26:09,829
and has not been cleaned up.

1700
01:26:09,898 --> 01:26:11,866
It's all across America.

1701
01:26:11,934 --> 01:26:15,470
It's the same players,
different humans,

1702
01:26:15,537 --> 01:26:18,272
but the same agencies,
the same attitudes.

1703
01:26:18,341 --> 01:26:19,539
But let's face it,

1704
01:26:19,541 --> 01:26:21,141
this community
has been traumatized enough.

1705
01:26:21,210 --> 01:26:22,876
That wasn't for this group
of moms

1706
01:26:22,945 --> 01:26:26,146
that made this Facebook page,
I would've not known.

1707
01:26:26,215 --> 01:26:29,015
There's an endemic problem
with the whole system.

1708
01:26:29,084 --> 01:26:31,017
You can have wonderful
environmental laws

1709
01:26:31,019 --> 01:26:32,886
and we have really
powerful ones,

1710
01:26:32,955 --> 01:26:34,755
but if they're not enforced,
they're useless.

1711
01:26:34,757 --> 01:26:37,191
And that has happened
at dozens and dozens

1712
01:26:37,260 --> 01:26:39,393
of toxic sites in the state
of California

1713
01:26:39,461 --> 01:26:42,196
and probably is emblematic
of what goes on,

1714
01:26:42,264 --> 01:26:44,965
unfortunately,
all over the country.

1715
01:26:59,047 --> 01:27:00,715
Woman:
The Committee on Oversight

1716
01:27:00,782 --> 01:27:03,316
and Investigations would
now come to order.

1717
01:27:03,318 --> 01:27:05,852
I would now like to introduce
the honorable Anne White,

1718
01:27:05,854 --> 01:27:07,254
who is the Assistant Secretary,

1719
01:27:07,323 --> 01:27:09,189
Office of Environmental
Management,

1720
01:27:09,191 --> 01:27:10,924
Department of Energy.

1721
01:27:10,993 --> 01:27:13,661
Madam Chair, the government's
nuclear defense programs

1722
01:27:13,729 --> 01:27:16,396
played an integral role
in ending World War II

1723
01:27:16,465 --> 01:27:17,931
and the Cold War.

1724
01:27:18,000 --> 01:27:21,901
Our nation was unified
in its effort to end those wars.

1725
01:27:21,970 --> 01:27:25,605
That kind of resolve and unity
of purpose is needed today

1726
01:27:25,607 --> 01:27:28,341
as we address the resulting
environmental legacy.

1727
01:27:28,410 --> 01:27:30,745
We remain committed
to completing cleanup

1728
01:27:30,812 --> 01:27:34,881
so that our host communities
can envision a vibrant future.

1729
01:27:34,950 --> 01:27:37,018
We can continue
to live in the past,

1730
01:27:37,085 --> 01:27:39,753
or we can choose
to understand the past,

1731
01:27:39,821 --> 01:27:42,089
make course corrections,
and move forward

1732
01:27:42,157 --> 01:27:44,091
with collaborative solutions.

1733
01:27:44,159 --> 01:27:45,693
It's time to choose the latter.

1734
01:27:45,761 --> 01:27:48,295
You know, I've been
on this committee a long time.

1735
01:27:48,363 --> 01:27:50,831
We've seen DOE make
these promises before

1736
01:27:50,833 --> 01:27:52,832
with regards
to clean up operations.

1737
01:27:52,901 --> 01:27:54,635
What exactly does it mean

1738
01:27:54,703 --> 01:27:57,771
that DOE's
Environmental Management Office

1739
01:27:57,839 --> 01:28:01,309
does not follow
ED management practice.

1740
01:28:01,376 --> 01:28:04,577
Anybody that's been on
this job site should be fired.

1741
01:28:04,646 --> 01:28:05,979
They're not doing
their job right.

1742
01:28:06,048 --> 01:28:08,315
Where does Hanford sit?
It sits on the Columbia River.

1743
01:28:08,317 --> 01:28:09,983
Where does Savannah River
site sit?

1744
01:28:10,052 --> 01:28:11,518
It sits on the Savannah River.

1745
01:28:11,520 --> 01:28:14,988
These are areas that are
environmentally sensitive.

1746
01:28:15,057 --> 01:28:17,123
Look, I'm not a nuclear
engineer,

1747
01:28:17,192 --> 01:28:19,192
but I'm a mom and a citizen,

1748
01:28:19,261 --> 01:28:22,395
and I can tell you
that leaving it out there longer

1749
01:28:22,464 --> 01:28:27,267
waiting for some type
of accident is not making

1750
01:28:27,269 --> 01:28:29,335
our constituents
across this country safer.

1751
01:28:29,405 --> 01:28:31,339
We need to do better
in the program

1752
01:28:31,406 --> 01:28:35,742
and project management,
and I think we can do better.

1753
01:28:35,811 --> 01:28:40,147
I do not believe government
has done enough to try

1754
01:28:40,215 --> 01:28:43,884
and build that bridge of trust.

1755
01:28:43,952 --> 01:28:46,553
My name is Anne White
and my position

1756
01:28:46,622 --> 01:28:48,621
was assistant secretary
of Energy

1757
01:28:48,690 --> 01:28:50,558
for Environmental Management

1758
01:28:50,625 --> 01:28:53,293
referred to as EM1.

1759
01:28:53,361 --> 01:29:01,901
¶¶

1760
01:29:01,970 --> 01:29:04,070
Obviously, when you've
got portions of the public

1761
01:29:04,072 --> 01:29:07,107
all over the country who are
unhappy with what you're doing,

1762
01:29:07,175 --> 01:29:09,109
you're probably not
doing enough,

1763
01:29:09,177 --> 01:29:12,645
especially for a site
like Santa Susana, small site.

1764
01:29:12,714 --> 01:29:18,251
It doesn't even usually come to
the radar of an EM1.

1765
01:29:18,253 --> 01:29:19,652
It's tough.

1766
01:29:19,721 --> 01:29:22,723
Those kind of big bureaucracies
are very challenging.

1767
01:29:22,791 --> 01:29:27,261
It kind of just felt
sometimes like a culture of...

1768
01:29:27,329 --> 01:29:28,596
...molasses.

1769
01:29:28,663 --> 01:29:31,197
Since 2011,
EM has spent over 45 billion

1770
01:29:31,266 --> 01:29:33,466
to try to address
the cleanup responsibilities.

1771
01:29:33,535 --> 01:29:36,269
And yet, we seem no closer
to cleaning up these sites

1772
01:29:36,271 --> 01:29:38,338
or reducing the department's
environmental liabilities.

1773
01:29:38,407 --> 01:29:42,409
EM cleanup right now
is the third biggest liability

1774
01:29:42,411 --> 01:29:44,010
to the US taxpayers.

1775
01:29:44,012 --> 01:29:47,413
We throw $7 billion
a year into that pot,

1776
01:29:47,483 --> 01:29:49,349
and the liabilities
don't go down.

1777
01:29:49,417 --> 01:29:52,086
Did the taxpayer get good value
for the $6 billion EM

1778
01:29:52,154 --> 01:29:55,088
roughly spent last
fiscal year on nuclear waste?

1779
01:29:55,157 --> 01:29:59,759
I believe that the taxpayer
got good value for their money.

1780
01:29:59,828 --> 01:30:01,295
-Okay.
-We can do better, though.

1781
01:30:01,363 --> 01:30:05,098
So many of these sites
are in places

1782
01:30:05,167 --> 01:30:08,969
where they are the only game
in town in terms of employment.

1783
01:30:08,971 --> 01:30:12,907
If the cleanup gets completed,
the jobs go away.

1784
01:30:12,974 --> 01:30:17,243
And so to some degree,
EM become a jobs program.

1785
01:30:17,245 --> 01:30:20,180
Cleanup of these sites
is critically important.

1786
01:30:20,182 --> 01:30:23,650
We need to have it happen
and we can't be sitting here

1787
01:30:23,718 --> 01:30:26,654
again in five, 10 or 20 years
hoping that it will.

1788
01:30:26,721 --> 01:30:28,389
The actions EM needs to take

1789
01:30:28,457 --> 01:30:30,457
involve significant
cultural change

1790
01:30:30,459 --> 01:30:33,861
at DOE headquarters,
the sites, and the contractors.

1791
01:30:33,929 --> 01:30:37,730
When it involves kids and moms
and all of these things,

1792
01:30:37,799 --> 01:30:43,337
maybe they've been heard,
but not listened to.

1793
01:30:43,405 --> 01:30:45,104
And there's there's
a difference,

1794
01:30:45,173 --> 01:30:48,943
I suppose,
there's a big difference.

1795
01:30:49,010 --> 01:30:51,144
And at Santa Susana right now,

1796
01:30:51,146 --> 01:30:55,015
honestly, the conversation
well could be so poisoned

1797
01:30:55,017 --> 01:30:57,951
that there -- there is
no reverse gear

1798
01:30:57,953 --> 01:30:59,819
in terms
of building that trust.

1799
01:30:59,888 --> 01:31:02,156
You just may never come
to common ground.

1800
01:31:02,224 --> 01:31:04,891
And that's a pity,

1801
01:31:04,893 --> 01:31:08,762
but that's maybe the nature of
the beast there. Unfortunately.

1802
01:31:18,306 --> 01:31:20,307
I'm sure I didn't have
enough energy for it, I think.
[ Knock on door ]

1803
01:31:20,375 --> 01:31:22,842
I don't think
we did it last year.

1804
01:31:22,911 --> 01:31:24,310
Although, I don't know
if daddy will want me

1805
01:31:24,312 --> 01:31:25,578
to do it this year.

1806
01:31:25,647 --> 01:31:28,515
Child: Yeah...
[ speaks indistinctly ]

1807
01:31:28,583 --> 01:31:32,186
Poster or something instead.

1808
01:31:32,254 --> 01:31:33,453
You need to push down
your cuticle

1809
01:31:33,455 --> 01:31:35,189
and I'll come back
to that one.

1810
01:31:39,461 --> 01:31:41,594
-It's pretty.
-It is pretty.

1811
01:31:41,663 --> 01:31:43,263
Like how glittery it is.

1812
01:31:43,331 --> 01:31:48,469
¶¶

1813
01:31:48,537 --> 01:31:49,804
I feel -- I feel more hopeful,

1814
01:31:49,871 --> 01:31:52,472
even though right
now things are looking

1815
01:31:52,541 --> 01:31:56,676
pretty glum again
for the cleanup right now.

1816
01:31:56,678 --> 01:32:00,280
I'm more at peace
with the thought

1817
01:32:00,282 --> 01:32:03,950
that this could be
the rest of my life.

1818
01:32:04,019 --> 01:32:07,754
Before that, that thought
was just too frightening.

1819
01:32:07,756 --> 01:32:10,423
¶¶

1820
01:32:10,425 --> 01:32:12,692
I feel like whether or not
it's the Santa Susana Field Lab

1821
01:32:12,761 --> 01:32:15,561
or maybe helping other sites.

1822
01:32:15,631 --> 01:32:17,897
If this were to be
the rest of my life,

1823
01:32:17,899 --> 01:32:22,235
I would -- I wouldn't fight it.

1824
01:32:22,304 --> 01:32:25,405
I had my own plans for my life,
I wanted to --

1825
01:32:25,474 --> 01:32:27,173
I wanted to
illustrate kids' books

1826
01:32:27,242 --> 01:32:29,143
and I wanted to be an author
and I wanted to garden

1827
01:32:29,210 --> 01:32:33,646
and, you know, I had
a really simple life planned out

1828
01:32:33,715 --> 01:32:35,449
and it sounded just fantastic.

1829
01:32:35,517 --> 01:32:39,252
And the thought of not
getting to have time

1830
01:32:39,321 --> 01:32:43,657
to excel at any of those things
was really hard.

1831
01:32:43,659 --> 01:32:45,191
As I was praying about it,
I felt like God said,

1832
01:32:45,260 --> 01:32:47,061
I'm allowed to have a hobby.

1833
01:32:47,128 --> 01:32:50,430
¶¶

1834
01:32:50,432 --> 01:32:52,632
I was like, all right,
I can take my dreams

1835
01:32:52,701 --> 01:32:54,834
and let them be a hobby

1836
01:32:54,903 --> 01:32:59,740
and doing this is more important
than anything I had planned.

1837
01:32:59,808 --> 01:33:01,207
I definitely feel like this

1838
01:33:01,209 --> 01:33:04,545
is where I'm supposed to be
in my life right now.

1839
01:33:04,613 --> 01:33:08,281
¶¶

1840
01:33:08,350 --> 01:33:10,951
It took Gracie a lot of -- a lot
of hard work and time

1841
01:33:11,019 --> 01:33:13,687
to really kind of be
a regular kid again.

1842
01:33:13,689 --> 01:33:16,089
¶¶

1843
01:33:16,091 --> 01:33:19,225
She's not the kind of kid
to just lay down and take it.

1844
01:33:19,294 --> 01:33:22,629
She's really strong.

1845
01:33:22,697 --> 01:33:24,898
But the health effects

1846
01:33:24,966 --> 01:33:28,601
will follow her
all the rest of her life.

1847
01:33:28,670 --> 01:33:30,637
I have had
some people accuse me

1848
01:33:30,639 --> 01:33:34,540
of using Grace's story.

1849
01:33:34,609 --> 01:33:38,678
To some degree,
that's really true.

1850
01:33:38,747 --> 01:33:40,580
If I could have brought
people's hearts along

1851
01:33:40,649 --> 01:33:45,051
without having to show
Gracie's story, I wouldn't have.

1852
01:33:45,053 --> 01:33:46,720
But if it helps other families

1853
01:33:46,788 --> 01:33:49,523
not have to go
through the same thing,

1854
01:33:49,591 --> 01:33:52,593
you know,
and then I-I don't regret it.

1855
01:33:52,661 --> 01:33:53,928
I don't think Grace
would regret it.

1856
01:33:53,995 --> 01:33:56,463
I think she understands that,

1857
01:33:56,531 --> 01:33:59,065
you know, before we're willing
to do anything to protect other

1858
01:33:59,134 --> 01:34:01,067
kids from what
she's gone through.

1859
01:34:01,136 --> 01:34:04,404
¶¶

1860
01:34:39,307 --> 01:34:41,308
Fixing her name and like...

1861
01:34:44,245 --> 01:34:49,116
Her birthday and stuff,
it's just so final.

1862
01:34:52,020 --> 01:34:53,486
Sorry.

1863
01:35:03,131 --> 01:35:06,566
¶¶

1864
01:35:14,609 --> 01:35:17,009
The Santa Susana Field Lab

1865
01:35:17,078 --> 01:35:20,948
is I wouldn't say it's always
in the front of my mind,

1866
01:35:21,015 --> 01:35:25,618
but it is consistently
in the back of my mind.

1867
01:35:25,687 --> 01:35:28,855
In the back of my mind,
when I give my kids water

1868
01:35:28,924 --> 01:35:31,958
or give them a bath,
in the back of my mind

1869
01:35:31,960 --> 01:35:34,028
when I see a new kid
diagnosed,

1870
01:35:34,095 --> 01:35:35,195
in the back of my mind,

1871
01:35:35,263 --> 01:35:39,767
when I see another kid
who's passed away.

1872
01:35:39,834 --> 01:35:44,504
It's a hard one, I know I can't
put all of my energy there.

1873
01:35:44,572 --> 01:35:47,707
I'm still working my way back
to being fully present

1874
01:35:47,775 --> 01:35:52,111
with everybody,
and my kids need their mom.

1875
01:35:52,180 --> 01:35:54,781
¶¶

1876
01:35:54,783 --> 01:35:57,717
I've been slowly putting pieces
back together

1877
01:35:57,786 --> 01:36:00,587
and I'm not as lost.

1878
01:36:00,655 --> 01:36:02,922
I'm still lost,
but not as lost

1879
01:36:02,924 --> 01:36:07,393
if that makes sense.

1880
01:36:07,462 --> 01:36:11,265
For me, I know I can
never give up trying to fight.

1881
01:36:11,332 --> 01:36:14,000
But I also know that I...

1882
01:36:14,002 --> 01:36:17,670
I have to use this brain
sparingly because it's focused

1883
01:36:17,739 --> 01:36:19,807
on so many different things
right now.

1884
01:36:19,874 --> 01:36:22,141
I'm trying to heal,
I'm trying to process,

1885
01:36:22,210 --> 01:36:25,278
trying to grieve,
trying to be a mom.

1886
01:36:25,347 --> 01:36:27,514
¶¶

1887
01:36:27,582 --> 01:36:28,849
But it's always there.

1888
01:36:28,916 --> 01:36:30,750
It's always this
lingering question in my mind,

1889
01:36:30,818 --> 01:36:34,487
it's always this idea
that is there

1890
01:36:34,556 --> 01:36:37,357
and it can't be quieted until

1891
01:36:37,359 --> 01:36:39,158
it's cleaned up, I think.

1892
01:36:39,227 --> 01:36:42,429
¶¶

1893
01:36:51,506 --> 01:36:55,175
I hope that there's an end
to this story.

1894
01:36:55,243 --> 01:36:58,077
Given what's happening
in our country,

1895
01:36:58,079 --> 01:37:03,217
I worry about all of our efforts
to protect public health.

1896
01:37:03,284 --> 01:37:06,853
I worry that focusing on
Santa Susana

1897
01:37:06,921 --> 01:37:09,322
will seem like a luxury,

1898
01:37:09,390 --> 01:37:11,558
that it will seem
like days have passed

1899
01:37:11,626 --> 01:37:14,727
when you actually could fight
a fight and you might just win

1900
01:37:14,729 --> 01:37:16,829
and you could get
a cleanup agreement

1901
01:37:16,898 --> 01:37:18,664
and you could do
community organizing

1902
01:37:18,733 --> 01:37:21,200
and you could speak freely.

1903
01:37:21,269 --> 01:37:25,938
We are in a world of distraction
and of self-centeredness,

1904
01:37:26,007 --> 01:37:28,875
but we don't sense
any connection to others

1905
01:37:28,877 --> 01:37:30,209
and particularly to

1906
01:37:30,278 --> 01:37:33,080
those who suffer and if we don't
connect to the damage

1907
01:37:33,147 --> 01:37:35,147
we do to the planet,

1908
01:37:35,216 --> 01:37:37,617
the everyday people
who are affected by

1909
01:37:37,685 --> 01:37:40,953
polluters are just
being walked all over.

1910
01:37:41,022 --> 01:37:45,225
The damage that is done
over the last century,

1911
01:37:45,293 --> 01:37:47,093
we simply have to keep fighting.

1912
01:37:47,162 --> 01:37:49,695
I've been a reporter
for 38 years.

1913
01:37:49,764 --> 01:37:52,231
I've seen just about everything.

1914
01:37:52,233 --> 01:37:56,702
I'm still surprised that
there were government officials

1915
01:37:56,771 --> 01:37:58,504
who looked me in the eye
and said,

1916
01:37:58,506 --> 01:38:00,239
"Santa Susana's not a problem."

1917
01:38:00,241 --> 01:38:03,309
Even when there were
so many government documents

1918
01:38:03,311 --> 01:38:04,611
that said otherwise.

1919
01:38:04,679 --> 01:38:09,315
I mean, I think the public
is not so easily fooled.

1920
01:38:09,317 --> 01:38:12,853
They know there's
something here.

1921
01:38:12,921 --> 01:38:16,455
The truth always comes out
in the end.

1922
01:38:16,524 --> 01:38:19,459
I think it takes
an enormous amount of courage.

1923
01:38:19,461 --> 01:38:20,993
And a hell of a lot of work

1924
01:38:21,062 --> 01:38:24,731
to see that there is
accountability

1925
01:38:24,799 --> 01:38:27,467
and that something is done.

1926
01:38:27,469 --> 01:38:28,836
It's up to the mothers.

1927
01:38:28,903 --> 01:38:32,805
And others who have the courage,
have the time to make damn sure

1928
01:38:32,807 --> 01:38:35,541
that something happens
if there's change.

1929
01:38:35,610 --> 01:38:37,777
It may be the only way.

1930
01:38:37,846 --> 01:38:39,045
Who's going to be
the next child,

1931
01:38:39,113 --> 01:38:40,947
who's going to be the next
person in your community.

1932
01:38:40,949 --> 01:38:43,883
You don't ever give up
on something like this

1933
01:38:43,951 --> 01:38:46,152
because it's the right thing
to do.

1934
01:38:46,154 --> 01:38:49,556
Where the people lead,
the leaders will follow.

1935
01:38:49,624 --> 01:38:52,626
Woman: Being in a low right now
doesn't feel like defeat,

1936
01:38:52,694 --> 01:38:56,463
it just feels like
part of the journey.

1937
01:38:56,531 --> 01:38:57,930
And the thing
that's heartbreaking

1938
01:38:57,932 --> 01:39:02,236
is that it's just
going to continue.

1939
01:39:02,303 --> 01:39:03,704
But it's the kids
who have to suffer,

1940
01:39:03,771 --> 01:39:06,673
and it's the parents
who have to bury them

1941
01:39:06,741 --> 01:39:09,709
that have to bear that
for the rest of our lives.

1942
01:39:09,777 --> 01:39:13,647
¶¶

1943
01:39:16,050 --> 01:39:20,453
Oh, I'm not going to stop
so we'll just have to

1944
01:39:20,455 --> 01:39:23,590
find out who has more
endurance me or them, maybe.

1945
01:39:23,658 --> 01:39:27,260
¶¶