[dropcap size=big]T[/dropcap]he Woolsey Fire ripped through the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, a Cold War-era rocket testing site and nuclear research facility, alarming community members and physicians. The site in the hills between Chatsworth and Simi Valley survived a partial meltdown, in one of the worst nuclear accidents in the country’s history.
Activists claim the fire could have burned through toxins already known to have contaminated the soil and vegetation around the site, and possibly released them into the air with smoke and ash. The 2,800-acre facility is also known as Rocketdyne.
The state agency in charge of responding to toxic substance accidents issued a statement Friday at 1:30 am, claiming that the Santa Susana Field Laboratory did not pose any immediate dangers. “There is no evidence that smoke from the area around the SSFL is any more dangerous than other wildfire smoke,” said the California Department of Toxic Substance Control, or DTSC.
The statement said L.A. and Ventura county fire department hazardous materials experts confirmed there is no risk.
But DTSC also implied that state inspectors also have not gone in and done full testing because the Woolsey Fire is still an active evacuation zone. “As soon as access is open we will evaluate the site, the air monitoring stations, and available data,” the state added.