[dropcap size=big]N[/dropcap]o dangerous levels of radiation were found in initial tests done around the Santa Susana former nuclear testing facility in the Simi Hills, state and local health officials said on Tuesday.
The word came after residents and physicians raised alarm over the Santa Susana Field Laboratory and its role in the Woolsey Fire, which started on Nov. 8. Activists who’ve long warned about potential illnesses associated with exposure to hazardous chemicals from Santa Susana raised concerns on social-media almost hours after the fire started. They claimed if fire overtook the potentially dangerous contaminated zone at the site, toxic ash could be carried by the fire's smoke.
Today, the Department of Toxic Substance Control followed-up on an earlier statement and reiterated that there are “no radiation levels above background levels” at the facility. The DTSC said it would conduct more tests “out of an abundance of caution.”
The department added that while some terrain at the Santa Susana facility burned, the area that formerly held hazardous nuclear waste did not.
In a separate statement, the L.A. County Department of Public Health said it also sent teams to test the air around the site. “Public Health officials traveled to the facility and performed nuclide identification, collected air samples, and operated multiple radiation detection units,” the county said. “There was no discernible level of radiation in the tested area.”