Documentary Film About the Santa Susanna Field Laboratory.

There is a new documentary film “In the Dark of the Valley” being aired on MSNBC. It describes the toxic contamination of the environment with chemicals and radioactive materials, released from the Santa Susanna Field Laboratory in suburban LA and the serious health consequences which occurred in the surrounding communities. The laboratory was founded in 1949 and was used to test rocket engines with exotic (toxic) fuels and to test experimental nuclear reactors (at least one of which suffered a fuel meltdown), including one cooled by liquid sodium. There was a “hot cell” for processing plutonium from irradiated reactor fuel rods and the fabrication of plutonium fuel pellets for the reactors. None of these structures had any containment buildings and so any releases went directly into the environment. Residents in the surrounding areas suffered an epidemic of rare cancers including many in children. The film also describes the dismal failure of cleanup efforts including the ineffectiveness of the California Department of the Environment and the maneuvers of the various owners and operators of the facility to evade responsibility for their careless and reckless actions.