This page is for residents living within 10 miles of the Santa Susana Field Lab. Please see your physician for all medical advice, these are only simple tips to lessen potential exposure to the Santa Susana Field Lab contamination and should not be treated as medical or legal advice.
we don’t recommend Testing your home for radioactive contamination
The contamination at the SSFL is loose in the soil and groundwater. By the time it reaches our homes, it's mostly in the form of particulate matter (think dust). That makes it very difficult to track. But we were able to with a generous donation from a scientist who went down to the molecular level with the dust/ash/soil samples we sent him after the Woolsey Fire. We had to take 300 samples, each costing about $800 if you were to do it in a regular lab. You'd need to do hundreds of samples at your home, because you're looking for a needle in a haystack times a thousand.
In the end, it wouldn't necessarily be accurate. Contamination could blow out of your yard the day before testing, it could blow in the day after. The SSFL contamination is very mobile. That's what makes it dangerous. Even if you found contamination, it would be incredibly difficult to clean up (in your yard). However, we know where most of the contamination at the SSFL is. If we clean up the source, we stop the chance of it blowing into our community.
No parent should have to consider if their child is safe from toxic or radioactive contamination near their home. That’s why we’re demanding the safest, smartest, and most comprehensive cleanup of the Santa Susana Field Lab. This is our home, these are our children. We won’t stop until they’re safe.
Lessen your chance of exposure
wash your hands
This advice is so simple it can be overlooked as one of the most impactful ways to protect your family from contamination. Ingesting toxic or radioactive contamination is one of the most dangerous pathways of exposure. By thoroughly washing your hands before snacks and meals (especially after playtime outside) you limit the risk of accidentally ingesting contamination.
don’t track in dirt
Again, this is another simple but incredibly important tip to reduce your exposure from the SSFL’s contamination. Especially if you have spent time outdoors, consider leaving your shoes outside, carefully wiping your feet before coming indoors, or sweeping your floors often. This may be even more important if you have a baby or toddler as these little humans spend so much of their time on the floor.
Consider your drinking water
Map from Simi Valley Acorn
Golden State Water (GSW) provides the drinking water to approximately 30% of Simi Valley Residents and uses anywhere from 10-70% well water mixed with imported water. Though GSW meets every legal limit for contamination, they have not used the most proactive testing methods nor the most protective measures to guarantee the well water they use is completely contamination free. According to a GSW representative, they have only tested for tritium (radioactive water that can’t be removed with any filtration system) twice in twelve years. And though the meet the legal maximum contamination limit for perchlorate, it’s still four times above the California Health Goal for perchlorate.
Many GSW customers have told Parents Against SSFL they feel safer purchasing water through a supplier like Sparklets for their drinking and cooking water. Others have installed water filtration systems. While reverse-osmosis water filtration can remove perchlorate and other contaminants, there are no filtration systems that can remove tritium.
All other Ventura County and Los Angeles County residents (who do not use Golden State Water) have imported water that has no known potential of being contaminated from the Santa Susana Field Lab.
Consider where you live
One of the questions we get asked the most is, is it safe to live here? We can’t tell you where it’s “safe” but we can tell you the facts so you can decide weigh the pros and cons to decide what’s best for your family.
The SSFL is in the mountains and it can be hard to see exactly how close you live. The SSFL is 2,850 acres and contamination happened in different locations across the site, so this is meant to be an estimation. You can see how far you’re from the SSFL here.
60% higher cancer incidence rate within 2 miles
According to an independent epidemiological study by Dr. Hal Morgenstern, people living within two miles of the SSFL have a 60% higher cancer incidence rate compared to those living at 5 miles*. This means that the closer you live to the SSFL, the higher the risks of being impacted by contamination. However, there isn’t a giant glass wall keeping the contamination at the two mile point. Generally we recommend living as far from the SSFL as you reasonably can, however, that’s not always feasible due to jobs, family, schools and community support.
beware The canyons
Runkle Canyon, Bell Canyon, and Dayton Canyon are all near to the Santa Susana Field Lab and collect rain runoff. All three areas have residents with apparent elevated rates of cancer. Still the DTSC continues to say the areas are safe, though this was strongly contradicted by NBC4’s investigative journalist Joel Grover.
Find safer recreation
SSFL hikes
Parents Against SSFL has protested against Boeing’s annual “Earth Day Hikes” that lead unsuspecting hikers through the contaminated site. Parents Against SSFL strongly recommends against hiking through the site or any trails that lead directly to the Santa Susana Field Lab borders. The further your trail is from the SSFL, the safer.
Sage Ranch park
Sage Ranch Park is separated from the contaminated SSFL with a chain link fence. Though there has been some remediation completed at Sage Ranch, it’s proximity to the SSFL continues to make it a risk not worth taking.
Orcutt Ranch
Orcutt Ranch, located in West Hills, offers orange picking in the orchards once a year to the public. However, the public is not warned that Dayton Creek runs directly from the SSFL into the ranch. Perchlorate found at Orcutt Ranch years ago shows that contamination from the SSFL makes the ranch too dangerous of an area to grow produce.
Brandeis-Bardin Campus
This popular summer camp also hosts many local science camps for the local school districts. They do not warn the parents about the risks of being on an area known to be contaminated by the SSFL.
* Dr. Morgenstern’s study clearly contradicts the California Health Department and DTSC assessment that cancer rates were generally lower for people living near to the Santa Susana Field Lab. This is one of many reasons why Parents Against SSFL continues to oppose the corruption within the DTSC, the California EPA, the California Health Department and the Los Angeles Waterboard. These government agencies have refused to consider independent studies by acclaimed experts and instead give precedence to studies conducted by Boeing, NASA and the Department of Energy. Please visit our Lies and Deceit page to learn more.