City of Simi Valley forced to test Runkle Canyon water and soil for arsenic By Michael Collins Los Angeles CityBeat/ValleyBeat – July 26, 2007 No sooner had Simi Valley’s cadre of concerned citizens, the Radiation Rangers, discovered that arsenic and other heavy metals were fouling the water and soil of […]

The following two excerpts are noted in “Spin Cycle – Simi Council sells disturbing Runkle Canyon pollution report as clean” in the August 23, 2007 issue of Los Angeles CityBeat. The statements of Assistant City Manager Laura Behjan, reporting for staff, seem to indicate a disconnect between the city’s understanding of the nature […]

The Workgroup meeting is held quarterly at the Simi Valley Cultural Center. The discussion topics were the status of State Senate Bill 990 sponsored by Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Los Angeles) and signed into law by Governor Schwarzenneger October 12. “Pay Dirt” explored this issue. This meeting, partially covered in “Dirty […]

New law cleaning up Rocketdyne for parkland may not stop adjacent KB Home development pushed by Simi Valley City Council By Michael Collins Ventura County Reporter – November 1, 2007 The apocalyptic Ranch Fire marching toward Simi Valley Oct. 22 never made it to the city limits, but smoky wind […]

VA commits to further Brentwood nuke dump study, though uncertainty remains By Michael Collins Los Angeles CityBeat – September 13, 2007 A full-blown $1 million study of a forgotten biomedical nuclear waste site in Brentwood will be done to more fully explore concerns raised in a preliminary report, it was […]

Deadly Rocketdyne vapor threatens Ventura and Los Angeles Counties By Michael Collins Ventura County Reporter – February 13, 2003 When the poisonous rocket fuel oxidizer perchlorate was recently discovered in a Well #1 adjacent to Ahmanson Ranch intended for use in irrigating the proposed massive project, the news made national […]

Runkle Canyon’s Chromium Conundrum By Michael Collins Ventura County Reporter – June 26, 2008 The men had been up that hot dusty trail before, high in the hills above Simi Valley. Hawks flew overhead as vernal pools evaporated in the late March heat. Tracks of critters led to the stream […]

Selling Runkle Canyon pollution report as clean By Michael Collins Ventura County Reporter – August 23, 2007 The headlines out of Ventura County last week must have pleased Simi Valley officials intent on convincing its citizenry of the benign nature of Runkle Canyon’s soil and water. This is where homebuilding […]

EnviroReporter.com analysis – June 2008 MARCH 2008 ROCK SAMPLE WITH WHITE EVAPORATE A mysterious white evaporate or precipitate was found in Runkle Canyon by Rev. John Southwick and Frank Serafine on March 26, 2008 and given the next night to Norm Riley, Rocketdyne cleanup Project Manager for Cal-EPA’s Department of […]

By Michael Collins Los Angeles CityBeat/ValleyBeat – July 22, 2004 The following new readings were recently taken from test sites on the Rocketdyne property. The devil is in the details. B-1 jet testing area: – solvent (PCE) in soils – 2,000 parts per billion (ppb) – solvent (PCE) in soil […]

The Rocketdyne facility is more poisoned than anyone knew. Now residents and community leaders of the northwest San Fernando Valley and Ventura County supervisors want more testing before new homes get any closer. By Michael Collins Los Angeles CityBeat/ValleyBeat – July 22, 2004 [KB Home’s Runkle Canyon development is now […]

Developers of Simi Valley’s Runkle Canyon claim the water tested clean. Then a band of citizens discovered super-toxic goo seeping from the ground By Michael Collins Los Angeles CityBeat/ValleyBeat – June 21, 2007 The sweating point man leads a small group up the dusty inclines of Runkle Canyon. This undeveloped […]

How many cancer deaths are too many? The City of Los Angeles finally sues feds over inadequate cleanup of Rocketdyne By Michael Collins Los Angeles CityBeat/ValleyBeat – November 4, 2004 *2007 UPDATE BELOW – CITY, ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS WIN LAWSUIT Last week, the City of Los Angeles launched an historic lawsuit […]

Gov. Schwarzenegger signs Kuehl bill to clean up Rocketdyne to Superfund standards; Boeing agrees to pay for remediation and donate lab to State for parkland EnviroReporter.com — October 13, 2007 By Michael Collins A decades-long battle over Boeing’s massive Santa Susana Field Laboratory came to a historic climax on Friday […]

The EnviroReporter.com interview October 26, 2007 California State Senator Sheila Kuehl (D-Los Angeles) has long been in the spotlight, first as a child actress best known for her irrepressible Zelda Gilroy character in The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. The popular show’s four year run began in 1959 and starred […]

Sounding off over Rocketdyne cleanup milestone – Pros & Con Cal/EPA Secretary Linda Adams “I’d like to thank our partners for their tireless efforts. U.S. EPA, community members, Boeing, and local and state elected officials continue to be valuable partners in our efforts to plan and implement site cleanup.” Louise […]