• Aerojet Chino Hills - 2001 Clean up
Runkle Construction 12-14-13

Construction begins at what would soon be called Arroyo Vista at the Woodlands. Over 112 tons of dust will be made aloft as a result.

Runkle Tanks May 30, 2012

William Preston Bowling's outstanding photographs show Runkle Canyon's proximity to the nuclear meltdown area of Rocketdyne and a Runkle well where cancer-causing TCE was found.

SSFL Poster Session Simi Valley  May 17, 2012

Evidence of extremely high alpha radiation two miles offsite in a well at Brandeis-Bardin Campus of American Jewish University. Session also showed a huge hit of strontium-90 on Rocketdyne fence line with Runkle Canyon.

Runkle Canyon Windmill Well 2009

William Preston Bowling’s photographs of Runkle Canyon’s windmill well in 2009 and then again in 2011 show that KB Home had done nothing to remove these dangerous structures from its property where tricholorethylene had been found.

Runkle Canyon Presentation 11-17-08

On November 17, 2008, the DTSC’s Norm Riley, project head for the Runkle Canyon voluntary cleanup agreed to with KB Home, gave a presentation about the site to the Simi Valley City Council and community. The Radiation Rangers also gave a Powerpoint presentation which was aided by EnviroReporter.com’s Michael Collins and Denise Anne Duffield.

Runkle Canyon 11-08-08

Runkle Canyon’s surface water is a drinking water source for Simi Valley as these photographs show. Runkle Canyon drains into the Arroyo Simi which replenishes the aquifer under Simi Valley which is pumped out and blended for drinking water for the east part of the valley. That drinking water presently tests under government limits for toxins.

Arroyo Simi 7-14-08

Former Simi Valley resident Frank Serafine took these photographs of a trashed Arroyo Simi in the city of Simi Valley. City Councilman Steve Sojka touts the creek's aesthetic and recreational potential and supports occasional clean ups of the water body.

White Blight Chromium - March 26 and June 10, 2008

On March 26, 2008, Radiation Rangers "Fearless Frank" Serafine and "The Good Reverend John" Southwick visited Runkle Canyon and found a strange sight - thousands of white rocks and what appeared to be some kind of white evaporate or precipitate covering large swaths of land.

City retests Runkle 7-02-07

After the Los Angeles CityBeat & ValleyBeat cover story "The Radiation Rangers" came out June 21, 2007, the City of Simi Valley decided to go up Runkle Canyon and test it for itself. This testing for Title 22 hazardous metals, which includes the arsenic, nickel and vanadium found at shocking levels by the Rangers and tested previously, took water and soil samples which were split to be tested by Pat-Chem Laboratories and another lab of the City's choosing.

Rangers testing May 18, 2007

Radiation Rangers head for Runkle Canyon with Pat-Chem's Ron Lovato on May 18, 2007. Water and soil samples come back high in the heavy metals arsenic, nickel, vanadium, barium, cadmium and chromium. Findings precipitate more testing more testing for toxins in Runkle Canyon by the city of Simi Valley.

New KB Homes fencing and City Hall showdown

In August 2006, new KB Home fencing went up at the entrance to Runkle Canyon, patrolled by an around the clock security guard. The reaction of concerned residents was swift who addressed an August 21, 2006 Simi Valley City Council meeting.

Residents launch blimp August 2006

On August 19, 2006,Terry Matheney and the crew from Cheap Shots Aerial Photography send up a 15-foot long dirigible over the canyon equipped with a rotating high-resolution camera. Runkle Canyon neighbors were determined to keep an 'eye in the sky' on the broad picturesque gorge.

Runkle Canyon Maps and Posters

Maps and posters of Runkle Canyon in Simi Valley, California, a 1,595-acre expanse where KB Home plans to build 465 homes. Runkle Canyon borders the former nuclear testing area of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory.

Runkle Canyon

The 1,595-acre former Runkle Ranch property is KB Home's Runkle Canyon development now called Arroyo Vista at the Woodlands.