Spin Cycle

The City of Simi Valley claims that a Tetra Tech toxics report proves that Runkle Canyon’s water and soil are safe. (See “Spin Cycle“) The Ventura County Star and Simi Valley Acorn have also reported the canyon as “safe” with continued fact-challenged coverage including a false alarm about copper, erroneous cost of the citizens’ test, and incorrect posting status of Rangers report.

In fact, however, the City’s tests reveal even higher levels of arsenic and other heavy metals than the Rangers’ test.

Findings include:

• City water sample 25 percent higher in arsenic, 26,478 times tap water’s PRG and 47,000 California’s “public health goal” for toxin in water
• Arsenic in single soil sample lower, but still 20 times over EPA’s “preliminary remediation goal” for residential soil
• Tetra Tech reports barium detected in water at levels 233 percent higher than the citizens’ sampling
• 33 percent more nickel in Runkle water
• Vanadium 55 percent higher; 2.8 times “notification level” where local water purveyor advised to warn consumers of “presence of the contaminant and about the health concerns associated with its exposure,” according to California Department of Health Services
• Carcinogenic chromium detected 20 percent higher than the state’s maximum contaminant level (MCL) for tap water
• Cadmium detected at nearly three times the PRG for tap water and 700 times the public health goal
• Lead discovered in city’s samples at 33 percent higher than state’s MCL for the metal

Also troubling, the Simi Valley City Council has demanded that the Radiation Rangers provide them with a report that does not exist.

24 Years of Award-Winning SSFL/Rocketdyne Reporting
June 1998 – June 2022