SANTA SUSANA FIELD LABORATORY

Termination of the 2010 DOE AOC

There is an unacceptable conflict between the State of California and the federal government over radiologic cleanup requirements for the DOE’s Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC) at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) in Ventura County, California.

For over 15 years, ETEC has conducted environmental remediation and nuclear decommissioning under a state-ordered Administrative Order on Consent (AOC). This 2010 AOC is in clear conflict with both past federal practice and with current federal actions resulting from Presidential Executive Order 14300.

It is proposed that DTSC and DOE agree to terminate the 2010 AOC and replace it with more conventional remedies in line with the rest of the U.S.

Date Communication
April 6, 2026 Open Letter to Energy Secretary Wright and DTSC Director Butler
Email transmitting above letter
April 9, 2026 Re-emial to Secretary Wright and the DOE Offioe of Inspector General
April 9, 2026 Letter to President Trump via the White House Webmail platform.
April 10, 2026 Email to E&E News by Politico
April 20, 2026 Email from DOE OIG Hotline
April 25, 2026 Email thread with DOE OIG Hotline
April 27, 2026 Telephone call from the DOE OIG intake coordinator acknowledging receipt of the complaint, and assignment of case number 26-0500-C.
April 30, 2026 Submission of STREAM SCF000781 translating the April 6, 2026 letter to a series of questions requiring response
May 1, 2026 Email from Thanne Berg, Deputy Director of DTSC committing to address the proposal to terminate the 2010 AOC
May 1, 2026 Email to Thanne Berg
May 6, 20026 Email from DOE OIG Hotline that the DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) may contact me for additional information for case 26-0500-C.
May 6, 2026 Email to OIG Hotline consenting to EM cmmunication.
May 7, 2026 DTSC's response to SCF000781. Cecilia Dagher fails to provide answers to any of the 20 questions in SCF000781.
May 7, 2026 DTSC closes SCF000781 without answering a single question.
May 15, 2026 Feedback on the May 13 DOE CONNECT Public Meeting
August 3, 2026 Email to DOE and DTSC asking for a response to the request to terminate or renegotiate the 2010 AOC
August 4, 2026 Email to DOE Headquarters Leadership and CalEPA Secretary questioning DOE's and DTSC's lack of transparency
August 6, 2026 Email from DTSC_SSFLCleanup declining to discuss the 2010 AOC at the DOE CONNECT meeting
August 6, 2026 Email to DTSC_SSFLCleanup challenging them to a debate
August 6, 2026 Email from Katherine Butler committing to respond to the April 6, 2026 letter but could not give an estimated release date
August 6, 2026 Email to Katherine Butler
August 6, 2026 Email from Josh Mengers declining to discuss the 2010 AOC at the DOE CONNECT meeting. Josh however confirmed that the April 6 letter to Chris Wright was being reviewed in HQ but could not provide an estimated release date
August 9, 2026 2010 AOC Public Review. Rationale for the 2010 AOC and other SSFL contractuall agreements to NOT require public review/approval if modified or terminated.
August 9, 2026 Email to DTSC & DOE, forwarding above 2010 AOC Public Review and offering to meet
August 10, 2026 Email to DTSC and DOE informing them of the NRC's Proposed Rule for Reforming and Modernizing NRC's Radiation Safety Framework
August 11, 2026 Email from Thanne Berg acknowledging telephone conversation and anticipating a future meeting.
August 11, 2026 Email from Thanne Berg re-committing DTSC to the 2010 AOC
August 25, 2026 Letter from Timothy Walsh (DOE EM-1) committing DOE to "support comprehensive cleanup at ETEC using the best science available."
August 26, 2026 Email from DOE EMCC transmitting above letter.
September 17, 2026 Email from DTSC. Invitation to participate in a technical meeting with the DTSC SSFL team.
September 22, 2026 Email to DTSC, providing the presentation on Radiation Dose, Risk and Cleanup Standards given to the Santa Susana Mountain Park Association.
September 28, 2026 Email to DTSC. Transmitting 2010 AOC Questions for DTSC, designed to help guide the conversation during the technical meeting. The questions focussed on the ...
  • origins, basis and justification for the 2010 AOCs
  • the April 6 letter challenging the SSFL-unique AOCs
  • quetioning why DTSC forced DOE to dispose of decommissioned material to a licened LLRW facility out of the State of California, in violation of EO D-62-02 and the California Appeals Court decision in the PSR-LA lawsuit
September 29, 2026 Email from DTSC stating, "The attached document you’ve provided has questions that would require opinion and speculation from DTSC. Therefore, DTSC will not be able to discuss or respond to most of
your questions presented in the attached document with you during tomorrow’s meeting."
September 30, 2026 Technical meeting on the 2010 AOCs, called by DTSC at the DTSC Offices in Chatsworth, California. .

Attendees: Phil Rutherford, Steven Becker (DTSC), Mindy Mathias (DTSC), Tanya Brosnan (DTSC), Brian Magee (DTSC) and Carolina Szpak-Chamecki (DTSC):

Steven Becker committed to ...

  • discuss with his boss, Thanne Berg (DTSC), my request for DTSC to respond to the specific technical and regulatory issues in the April 6 letter
  • provide a technical and regulatory reponse to the inconsistent way DTSC treats Boeing decommissioned material and DOE decommissioned material
October 8, 2026 Email to Thanne Berg, documenting the meeting of September 30, and reiterating the commitments made
October 9, 2026 Email to Thanne Berg requesting DTSC address the 2010 AOC proposal in the November 30 virtual meeting.
As of the revision date of this page, DTSC has failed to directly address or refute any of the technical and regulatory reasons in the April 6, 2026 letter, why the 2010 AOCs should be terminated.