After being shelved for more than a year, the Runkle Canyon response plan is finally moving forward.

If all goes well, the city could have a final answer from the state on the safety of the site by the end of September.

“It did take them a long time, but thankfully they’ve (approved) it so we can move on from here,” Mayor Paul Miller said upon hearing the news.

Located at the end of Sequoia Avenue along Simi’s southern border, the proposed Runkle Ranch development is adjacent to the Santa Susana Field Laboratory— a former rocket engine and nuclear test site known to be contaminated with hazardous chemicals and radionuclides.

Controversy over whether Runkle Canyon poses a health and safety risk has raged for years.

In 2004, the City Council approved a project to build 461 homes on the 1,595-acre property after the site was given a clean bill of health in an environmental impact report. However, developers voluntarily halted grading in 2006 due to the concerns of nearby residents, who called the results of several past studies into question.

In November 2008, officials from the state Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) told the City Council their office would make a clear-cut determination about whether it’s safe to build in Runkle by summer 2009.

But it wasn’t until late last month that the response plan was given the state’s stamp of approval.

The plan, prepared in December 2008, includes additional soil sampling for dangerous radionuclides strontium-90 and cesium137 in the proposed development’s nonresidential areas.

On July 22, the DTSC sent a letter to Runkle Canyon LLC—a joint partnership between home builders KB Home and Lennar— authorizing the developer to move forward with the work outlined in the response plan, with a few amendments.

In addition to the 14 samples initially proposed to be collected, the DTSC is requiring the developer to take an additional 22 samples in other areas on the site, many that have already been tested before.

Rick Brausch, the state’s field lab project director, said the extra sampling is needed because of various tests going back to 1999 that produced conflicting results. Because the DTSC wasn’t involved in that sampling, it’s difficult for state officials to discount or corroborate the historical data.

“We just didn’t have the information available to answer those questions, so by going back and redoing some of those samples in those areas and being involved in the sampling we’ll have answers to those questions,” Brausch said.

DTSC staff will accompany sampling personnel during the radionuclide testing and collect their own samples from the sites in question.

“We’re running those independently of the developer, so we’ll have two sets of data . . . to compare,” Brausch said. “Hopefully with those results we’ll be able to answer the critical questions of the community if strontium is there or not.”

In addition to the sampling, Runkle Canyon LLC will excavate, remove and dispose of about 30 cubic yards of tarlike material from piles of sand and gravel within the “fish tail” of three drainages that converge on the property.

The developer will also perform confirmation sampling to verify that it got all the tar and that there are no high concentrations of toxic contaminants in the soil.

On top of this, the state is requiring the former quarry area on the property to be tested. DTSC officials inspected the quarry on July 13 and found that fill material is present at the base of the quarry.

DTSC has asked the developer to place three trenches in the area so the department can sample the fill material to evaluate whether it presents a threat to human health and the environment, and if ash from burn material is present.

Keith Jajko, spokesperson for the developer, provided this statement to the Acorn:

“Runkle Canyon LLC has been ready to implement the response plan since it was submitted in January 2009. We will continue to work cooperatively with the DTSC and look forward to the results. We are in the process of implementing the activities required by the DTSC-approved Response Plan.”

While the letter to the developer said sampling was to occur by July 31, this date was pushed back. Brausch didn’t have an exact date but said the sampling “should be done in relatively short order.”

The lab results will be expedited and the developer will have to submit a report with a summary of the results no later than Aug. 31.

If the deadline is met, DTSC anticipates being able to issue a final decision no later than Sept. 30.

Miller was pleasantly surprised to hear the city could have an answer that soon but said it’s hard for him to believe it until he sees it.

“We’ll see. They’ve got a track record,” the mayor said.