Rocketdyne Health Probe May Give Realtors Headaches

Realtor Kreg Gable has seen people back out of home purchases, usually because of financial woes. Losing a sale for environmental reasons, he said, is rare.

But last week, an agent in Gable’s Simi Valley office had a woman walk away from a deal to buy a home in Box Canyon, west of Chatsworth, after she read a disclosure statement. It advised of alleged health threats from the nearby Rocketdyne Santa Susana Field Laboratory and other Rocketdyne facilities.

To look into lingering health questions surrounding the lab, a team of federal health inspectors arrived in the region Monday. The presence of the team marks the first time an arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has studied issues affecting residents near the 2,800-acre property, federal officials said.

With the increased attention being paid to the site, Gable anticipates there may be more changes of heart to come.

“There is a new level of awareness,� said Gable, owner of R.R. Gable Inc.

At the urging of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley), a 10-member team from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry is spending this week reviewing available data and talking with residents to determine what steps, if any, need to be taken to protect the community from any ill effects of the lab, which has been used for rocket engine testing, nuclear energy research and defense work.

The team will spend much of its time at the site, situated just inside the Ventura County line, south of Simi Valley and west of Chatsworth and West Hills. Members also will meet with the public tonight in Chatsworth and Wednesday evening in Simi Valley.

Some Simi Valley and San Fernando Valley residents and local legislators have long called for a study of health effects in the area. The arrival of the health team is the necessary first step before officials can determine if such a study is necessary or feasible.

The agency, which describes this week’s effort as a fact-finding mission, is expected to report back to Feinstein and Gallegly by mid-November.

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In the meantime, several real estate agents who do business in the area said they anticipate that while the region waits for answers, they may be waiting longer for sales.

“If enough is known in the near future to put people’s minds at ease, it [buyer anxiety] will peak immediately, when the least is known, and diminish,� said Gable, who said roughly 85% of his business comes from Simi Valley and the west San Fernando Valley.

“If more is disclosed and it becomes more negative, it [business] could theoretically go all the way to zero.�

Said Adam Robbins of Realty World, Imperial Realty in Canoga Park: “The more people address this as an issue, the more potential problems we’ll have selling real estate in that area.�

Up until now, Gable and several other real estate brokers said, the gentle slopes and stunning mountain views of the West Valley and eastern Simi Valley have proved alluring enough to overcome concerns for many buyers. There are “For Sale� signs within a mile of the lab’s main gate, and agents said those properties, many in gated luxury communities, do well.

Gable said the Simi Valley market is the hottest it’s been in years, and figures from the Southland Regional Assn. of Realtors show that the southwest San Fernando Valley boasts the second highest tally of single family home sales this year (1,989) and the highest median sales price ($269,000) in the Valley.

Bob Wood, whose ubiquitous “For Sale� signs dot narrow, winding Lake Manor Drive, a short distance from the main gate, said he had 50 transactions involving buyers and sellers in the area last year.

“I’ve only had two sales that fell apart,� said Wood, an agent with Northridge-based Todd C. Olson Estate Brokerage Inc.

One was a year ago. One was the woman in Box Canyon.

Wood, who represented the seller, agreed that increased attention being focused on health concerns in the area could make some buyers skittish.

“The more that appears in the media, generally speaking, the less good news,� said Wood, who has lived in the area since 1979 and specializes in sales there. But he added: “I think it’s a good idea to do honest research. I don’t believe there’s any threat to me or my family. But if there is, I’d be the first to move out.�

Dan Beck, a spokesman for Boeing Co.’s Rocketdyne Division, said the company entirely supports the health agency’s fact-finding mission.

“This is something that we’ve been calling for for quite a while,� said Beck. “For years.�

Officials with the toxic substances agency said the team includes environmental health scientists, toxicologists and health physicists who will review data from Rocketdyne, the Environmental Protection Agency and other sources, as well as have one-on-one sessions with residents.

“These are our steps to see if we’re even going to need to take a next step,� said Gwen Eng, the regional representative for the agency. “This is the process that we have to go through.�

The state has reviewed findings about cancer rates in the area before, but an official with the state Department of Health Services said his agency has never conducted a broad-based community-oriented inquiry such as the current endeavor.

Rocketdyne’s Beck said the company applauds the idea of “bringing in environmental specialists [and] community health specialists to do a thorough examination of the feasibility of doing a community health study.

“There are a lot of questions about whether there have been health impacts from Rocketdyne,� he added. “While there is no scientific evidence that our operation has created any health threat to the community, we support any effort to answer any remaining questions.�

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Many of the questions stem from epidemiological studies by UCLA researchers that showed that workers at the lab exposed to toxic chemicals and radiation had higher cancer rates than their colleagues.

Several lawsuits have been filed against Boeing North American Inc. and Rockwell International Corp. (former owner of Rocketdyne) stemming from the Santa Susana lab including a class-action case that is pending in federal court. It alleges that decades of nuclear research and rocket engine testing have contaminated the water, air and soil near the lab, and compromised the health of residents nearby.

A. Barry Cappello, lead attorney in the class-action suit, called the federal action long overdue and disputed Beck’s assertion that the company has been supportive of efforts to study community health.

“That’s malarkey,� said Cappello, whose case involves personal-injury and wrongful-death claims brought by more than 70 plaintiffs. “They’ve gone out of their way over the years to inhibit or discourage governmental investigation of the health effects on its workers and on the community.�

Cappello’s lawsuit, which is still in the early phase, prompted the local Realtors association to urge its members to give would-be buyers a lengthy disclosure statement, which was expanded in August to include more details about the allegations. The disclosure statement mentions not only the Santa Susana facility, but also Rocketdyne facilities in Canoga Park and West Hills.

Eng said her team would focus on the Santa Susana facility.

Even though brokers said the presence of health investigators may send some would-be buyers running, ultimately, they said, the inquiry will help.

“It’s always better to have more knowledge,� said Robert Keller, owner of the Columbia Cos., a North Hollywood-based firm that also sells property in the West Valley. “To the extent that this gives people knowledge that they can use to formulate their own opinions, yes, it’s a positive thing.�

Valley @ Work runs each Tuesday. Karen Robinson-Jacobs can be reached at Karen.R[email protected].

FYI

The health team from the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry will meet with residents from 6 to 9 p.m. today at the Chatsworth Hotel, 9777 Topanga Canyon Blvd. in Chatsworth; and from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday in the ballroom of the Clarion Posada Royale Hotel, 1775 Madera Road, Simi Valley.