City awaiting state response to latest Runkle test results
By Kyle Jorrey kjorrey@theacorn.com

City staff continues to wait for an official response from two state agencies on the results of a soil test conducted in Runkle Canyon over a two-week period in September and October to measure for levels of strontium-90.

The results of that test, which examined 63 samples taken from all corners of the 1,600acre property- including those not scheduled for residential development- show levels consistent with background levels normally found in Simi Valley and are considered acceptable according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards.

Strontium 90- much of it left behind from fallout from years of atmospheric nuclear weapons testing- is a radioactive isotope that has been linked to bone cancer, cancer of the soft tissue near the bone and leukemia. It was first detected slightly above natural levels on the Runkle Ranch property in 1999 by Phoenixbased QST Environmental, who was hired by previous Runkle Canyon developer Greenpark LLC.

Though current developer, Runkle Canyon LLC, has already come out and said the most recent test clearly shows that the property poses no health threat in terms of strontium90, assistant city manager Laura Behjan said the city is awaiting word from the state departments of Public Health and Toxic Substances Control before it makes such conclusions.

The agencies received the soil test results- including those of 10 split samples taken by the city- for review in December.

"We want to have a complete picture of the site and then take that to the City Council so they can make a fully informed decision (on Runkle Canyon)," Behjan said. "We are getting closer, and it's taken a fair amount of time, but we want to make sure that the site has been looked at thoroughly by the appropriate agencies."

That complete picture also includes water and soil tests done in July to look for the presence of chemical contamination.

At that time, the consulting firm TetraTech Inc. of Santa Barbara sent the city an analysis of two surface water samples and one soil sample. Based on the limited test results, the firm determined that the area posed no immediate threat to the public, despite the presence of arsenic and other heavy metals.

Robert Greger of the Department of Public Health (DPH) confirmed to the Simi Valley Acorn this week that his agency had received the test results but wouldn't say for sure whether or not the DPH would have an official response.

"It's very likely, though. We've seen them and been asked to do an analysis of them by the city of Simi Valley," he said. "The city put in that request right before the Christmas holiday, so it's taking us a bit longer to make a formal decision."

The DPH originally requested that the developer conduct the tests on a few select locations in the northwest corner of the property that the agency didn't feel had been sufficiently examined in the past, Greger said.

"We had made an observation that one portion of the site to be developed had not been soil-tested as extensively as in the other portions to be developed," he said.

After the recommendation, and after several concerns were raised by a group of local citizens living near Runkle Canyon, the developer decided to go ahead and take samples from the entire property using the Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual, better known as MARSSIM.

Runkle Canyon LLC spokesperson Keith Jajko said the developer actually got the idea from one of the proposed development's outspoken critics.

"We heard it mentioned during public comments and decided to follow through with the resident's request," Jajko said.

Separate, independent firms were contracted to prepare the sampling plan, conduct soil sampling and perform the analytical analysis, Jajko said.

A city of Simi Valley employee- source control inspector Richard Burrough- was on-hand at all times while sampling was conducted, as was a representative from the DPH, he added.

According to Joe Deakin, assistant director of public works, it was Burrough who took the city's samples offsite and forwarded the samples to the city's contracted lab- Midwest Laboratory of Northbrook, Ill.

Of the 63 split samples, the laboratory randomly selected 10 to test, including a control, to stay within protocol, Deakin explained.

The average level of strontium90 in those 10 samples eventually proved consistent with- and even slightly less than- those taken by the developer, Greger said.

"The developer's results say 0.014 pico curies per gram average, and the city's average was 0.011 pico curies per gram," Greger said. "Based upon that, one shouldn't have to worry that the developer has underestimated what was there."

According to the EPA, the background level normally found in Simi Valley is 0.052 pico curies per gram. The developer's test results showed a concentration of strontium-90 ranging from -0.001 pico curies per gram to 0.078 pico curies per gram.

Jajko said the results of this latest round of tests coupled with the chemical tests done in July, confirm what Runkle Canyon LLC has always asserted- that Runkle Canyon is safe.

"We look forward to final conclusions from the Department of Public Health and the Department of Toxic Substances, and we think they will validate our stance all along that the site is safe for residential development," Jajko said.