A fire charring much of Southern California probably is not expected to spread contamination left by old nuclear operations at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) in Ventura County, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control said Friday.
On Thursday, the so-called Woolsey Fire burned an area within the 2,800-acre site, used over the years for rocket testing and nuclear energy research, but as of early Friday it was no longer burning within SSFL, the state agency said in a statement. The state did not specify what portion of the site was burned.
While the agency does not believe any hazardous materials have been released as a result of the fire at SSFL, the Los Angeles chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) was skeptical.
“We know what substances are on the site and how hazardous they are,” said Dr. Robert Dodge, head of PSR-Los Angeles, said in a news release. “We’re talking about incredibly dangerous radionuclides and toxic chemicals such a trichloroethylene, perchlorate, dioxins and heavy metals.” The elements are found within soil and vegetation at SSFL, and the fire increases the risk of airborne contamination, he added.
The wildfire has already burned 85,000 acres and destroyed 177 structures in California as of Monday, according to Reuters.
The state seems to “repeatedly minimize risk from SSFL and has broken every promise it ever made about the SSFL cleanup,” Melissa Bumstead, a leader of a group called Parents Versus SSFL, said in the PSR news release. The group believes contamination from the site has contributed to cancer cases in the region.
The Energy Department is responsible for cleanup of about 472 acres within the site, including the Energy Technology Engineering Center, where it did research into nuclear power and liquid metal technology for years.
