Study finds radioactive contamination migrated off field lab site during Woolsey Fire

A new study has found that radioactive contamination migrated from the Santa Susana Field Laboratory site during the 2018 Woolsey Fire into Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and other neighboring communities.

The study contradicts a report by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control which concluded that the devastating blaze, which broke out on the field lab site, did not cause contaminants to be released into nearby areas. The report was released in January.

The 2,850-acre site outside Simi Valley, which served as a premiere research facility for the United States during the Cold War, experienced a partial nuclear meltdown in 1959 when it was the Rocketdyne/Atomics International rocket engine and nuclear facility. It also experienced other chemical and radioactive contamination over the years.

Its cleanup has been long-delayed.

The new study, “Radioactive microparticles related to the Woolsey Fire in Simi Valley, Ca.” was recently published by the Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, cleanup activists announced in a release Thursday.

"Radioactive outliers were found in Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley," the study finds.

The peer-reviewed analysis was conducted by Marco Kaltofen of the Department of Physics, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Massachusetts, and Maggie and Arnie Gunderson of Fairewinds Energy Education, a nonprofit based in Charleston, South Carolina dedicated to furthering public understanding of nuclear safety.

The study examined 360 samples of household dust, surface soils and ash from 150 homes and other locations such as parks and trails collected after the fire.

It concluded that while most of the collected samples were at normal levels, “some ashes and dusts collected from the Woolsey Fire zone in the fire's immediate aftermath contained high activities of radioactive isotopes associated with the Santa Susana Field Laboratory."

Beside being found in Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks, the radioactive contamination was also located in Agoura Hills and West Hills in Los Angeles County, Kaltofen said Thursday.

See what others are reading in related news:

• State reaffirms Woolsey Fire didn't cause toxins to be released from field lab site
• Energy department to remove eight toxic buildings from Santa Susana site near Simi Valley
• NASA's clean-up plan for tainted Santa Susana Field Lab near Simi outrages activists

Cleanup activist Denise Duffield said in Thursday's release that the study's findings "contradict conclusions by CalEPA's Department of Toxic Substances Control which ... affirmed in a final report that 'data from sampling and measurements did not detect the release of chemical or radiological contaminants from SSFL'" because of the Woolsey Fire.

"The new findings call these claims into question and further reinforce concerns about their failure to clean up SSFL as long promised," Duffield said.

In a statement Thursday, the toxic substances control department, which is overseeing the much-delayed cleanup, said that it cannot immediately comment on the study.

"However, DTSC released a final report, which confirmed that data from multiple lines of evidence did not identify a release of contaminants from SSFL" due to the fire, said department spokeswoman Allison Wescott.

The site is now largely owned by aerospace giant Boeing, which, along with the Department of Energy and NASA, are responsible for cleaning up their portions of the location plus buffer zones.

The Woolsey Fire broke out at the site on Nov. 8, 2018, sparked during high winds by electrical equipment owned there by Southern California Edison, an investigation by the Ventura County Fire Department concluded.

The blaze went on to burn about 97,000 acres, including 80% of the field lab site, kill three people and destroy more than 1,600 homes and other structures in Ventura and Los Angeles counties.

It was contained Nov. 18, 2018.

Officials pressure state to finally clean up site

In conjunction with the study, 11 local elected officials in Ventura and Los Angeles counties on Thursday sent a letter to California Environmental Protection Secretary Jared Blumenfeld expressing "our strong concerns about ongoing delays in the clean-up of this highly contaminated toxic waste site."

The letter urged Blumenfeld "to compel its prompt clean-up per the established state agreements and schedule." 

Boeing, the Department of Energy and NASA are all under legally binding agreements with the state to clean up their portions of the site.

Ventura County officials who signed the letter were supervisors Linda Parks and Bob Huber, Thousand Oaks Mayor Claudia Bill-de la Peña, Moorpark Mayor Janice Parvin and Simi Valley City Councilwoman Ruth Luevanos.

A second, similar letter was sent Thursday to Blumenfeld by five members of Congress, including Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Westlake Village.

Wescott said in her statement that "CalEPA and DTSC are proud of the swift progress that has been made at the SSFL site under" Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration.

Since 2020, the last of 18 remaining energy department buildings at the site have been demolished and disposed of at a licensed facility out of state, Wescott said.

"The final environmental impact report will be released next year, at which point DTSC will move quickly to implement the last phase of cleanup at the site," she said.

Cleanup activist Melissa Bumstead, who lives in West Hills with her husband and two children, one of whom is a cancer survivor, said Friday the study's findings incense her.

"I'm furious that the DTSC had the opportunity to at least warn residents that there could be the possibility of contamination so we could protect our kids," she said. "But they said we shouldn't be concerned at all."

Mike Harris covers the East County cities of Moorpark, Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks, as well as transportation countywide. You can contact him at mike.harris@vcstar.com or 805-437-0323.

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