Plans to store contaminated water under Ahmanson Ranch raise environmental concerns By Michael Collins Los Angeles CityBeat/ValleyBeat – February 24, 2005 The deluge of rain soaking Southern California hasn’t washed away the problems of a scant water supply throughout the region. Now a plan to bank reclaimed water in eastern […]

Boeing settles massive lawsuit over the Valley’s heavily polluted Rocketdyne site By Michael Collins Los Angeles CityBeat/ValleyBeat – October 6, 2005 For years, the residents of Simi Valley and western San Fernando Valley towns adjacent to Boeing’s Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) have claimed that the troubled site, polluted with […]

By Michael Collins LA Weekly “Offbeat” column – November 9, 2000 OffBeat was sitting at home last month, when the phone rang. Jonathan Parfrey, of the Los Angeles branch of Physicians for Social Responsibility, was on the line. “Aerojet’s on fire!” he blurted out. As longtime reporters on hazardous contamination […]

The battle over the massive Ahmanson Ranch housing development heats up amid growing concerns about possible water and soil contamination from nearby Rocketdyne. By Michael Collins Ventura County Reporter – December 12, 2002 July 1959. Eastern Ventura County. Simi Valley folks squirmed uncomfortably in their chairs as they watched their flickering […]

Ahmanson foes want ground-water tests By Michael Collins LA Weekly – June 12, 2002 Elizabeth Crawford sits astride her black thoroughbred Rufus under a live oak on Ahmanson Ranch in eastern Ventura County, and gazes toward thousands of acres of golden hills. Seattle-based Washington Mutual‘s Ahmanson Land Company (ALC) wants […]

A popular Brentwood dog park on Veterans Administration property is build over an old radioactive waste dump that may soon be unearthed by proposed development. by Michael Collins EnviroReporter.com – May 18, 2006 SUVs and luxury sedans glide into the Barrington Dog Park parking lot just south of Sunset Boulevard […]

Brentwood dump contains radioactive remains from decades of animal and human tests By Michael Collins EnviroReporter.com – May 25, 2006 During the 1950 and 60s, both UCLA and the Veteran’s Administration were deeply engaged in the Atomic Age, doing their part for the Cold War by performing radiation experiments on […]

‘CityBeat’ expose on Brentwood nuke dump inspires calls for new investigations by local and federal officials by Michael Collins Los Angeles CityBeat/ValleyBeat – June 29, 2006 CityBeat‘s five-year investigation into a nuclear and chemical dump on the northern reaches of Brentwood’s sprawling Veterans Administration campus has sparked widespread calls for […]

Brentwood School study finds no radiation on campus land leased from the VA, but bigger questions remain unanswered By Michael Collins Los Angeles CityBeat/ValleyBeat — February 22, 2007 In a January 30 letter to the parents of students at Brentwood School, headmaster Dr. Michael D. Pratt revealed that the exclusive […]

Unearthing the VA dump’s dirty secrets raises more questions than answers By Michael Collins Los Angeles CityBeat — August 16, 2007 On August 8, after months of wrangling, Congressman Henry Waxman finally released nearly 6,000 pages of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) documents related to the Brentwood nuclear and chemical […]

A new report on L.A.’s nuked Rocketdyne site finally catches the attention of mainstream media By Michael Collins Los Angeles CityBeat/ValleyBeat — October 12, 2006 A new five-year study of Boeing’s monstrously contaminated Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) sparked unprecedented mainstream print, radio, and television coverage last week. “Study Says […]

Rocketdyne’s Santa Susana Field Laboratory was on the frontlines of the Cold War. Now some who lived near “The Hill” say they share two distinctions: chronic illness and the unswerving belief that the lab caused it By Michael Collins Los Angeles magazine – June 1998 ON A HOT JULY NIGHT […]

Simi Valley residents unite to fight ‘hot’ KB Home development in Runkle Canyon By Michael Collins Los Angeles CityBeat/ValleyBeat – September 21, 2006 “I am not a tree hugger, an environmental activist, or an Erin Brockovich wannabe,” said Patricia Coryell before an August 21 meeting of the Simi Valley City […]

Runkle Canyon is poised to be Simi Valley’s newest neighborhood. But did the city misinterpret the risk of radioactive material in the ground? By Michael Collins Los Angeles CityBeat/ValleyBeat – March 10, 2005 Cattle graze on verdant hills as winter winds whip through the branches of centuries-old oaks on Runkle […]

How investigative reporting stopped a public health disaster By Dean Kuipers Los Angeles CityBeat/ValleyBeat – December 31, 2003 June 13, 2002: Collins writes “Earthly Secrets” for LA Weekly, questioning what was in the water and soil of Ahmanson Ranch which is owned by Washington Mutual. Late June 2002: Residents hold […]

Simi Valley city and citizens are still looking for answers about Runkle Canyon radiation By Michael Collins Los Angeles CityBeat/ValleyBeat – March 15, 2007 Last fall, spurred on by citizens alarmed at the impending development of picturesque Runkle Canyon and the cloud of strontium-90-laden dust it could launch over the […]