EXCESS PROPERTY

Here is a look at how other parcels of "excess" government land have been put to use:

NASA's industrial plant in Downey, which was used to test equipment and materials for the Apollo space program, is now the site of Downey Studios and Kaiser Permanente Downey Medical Center.

The former Naval Research Detachment Facility in Pasadena, also known as Cheesewright Studios, was sold at auction in 1996 and is now the location of Madeleine's Restaurant and Wine Bistro.

The site of the former Social Security Administration Building in Boyle Heights has attracted the Volunteers of America of Greater Los Angeles.

A portion the Santa Susana Field Laboratory has been declared excess property by a federal agency, allowing it to be transferred or sold, and reviving concerns about the future of its radioactive and chemical cleanup.

NASA filed its declaration on Monday with the General Services Administration, saying it no longer had any use for its 450-acre parcel at the rocket-test facility.

"Following a thorough internal review process, NASA concluded that the agency has no future mission requirement for its property at the (Santa Susana Field Lab), used primarily by the Space Shuttle Program until 2006."

The declaration clears the way for the GSA to offer the land to other federal agencies for use. If none is interested, the parcel will then be offered to state, city, school districts and nonprofit organizations.

If there still are no takers, the land could be sold to the highest bidder, which some community groups fear could open it up to development as a gaming casino.

A GSA spokeswoman said the agency had not yet received any inquiries from interested parties.

Activists have appealed to state and local leaders to denounce the declaration, fearing it would delay cleanup of the site as mandated by state law.

Authored in 2007 by then-state Sen. Sheila Kuehl, SB 990 prohibits the transfer or sale or transfer of the site unless the state Department of Toxic Substances Control certifies that it has been properly decontamination.

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"There's a provision in state law that prohibits the transfer of the property until DTSC's director certifies that it's been cleaned to the standards required by state law," said Rick Brausch, the department's manager for the Santa Susana Field Lab Project.

"Our concern is that this transfer process could be an indication of NASA's unwillingness to comply with state law and clean the site up to stringent state standards."

Activists echoed Brausch's concerns, saying they wanted assurances that state standards for radioactive and chemical levels will be met.

"Our problem is not whether they will clean it up, but whether they will clean it up to SB 990 levels," said Dan Hirsch, president of the watchdog group Committee to Bridge the Gap.

NASA officials have promised to retain and fulfill responsibility for the cleanup.

Located in the hills between Simi Valley and Chatsworth, the Santa Susana Field Lab was developed in the late 1940s for rocket-engine tests and nuclear energy research, activities that resulted in extensive chemical and radioactive contamination.

State regulators want the Boeing Co., which now owns the lab, along with NASA and the federal Department of Energy to clean up the 2,850-acre test site by 2017.