Wildfire Looms Over Toxic Legacy in California's Santa Susana Field Laboratory The rapidly spreading Sandy fire in Simi Valley, Ventura County, casts a long shadow over the contaminated nuclear reactor site at the defunct Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL).
A partial meltdown occurred there in 1959, and decades of industrial activities have left behind hazardous chemicals and radioactive materials that threaten to release toxic substances into the air if the fire reaches the site.
The SSFL's dark history is well documented. Industrial activities have contaminated soil and groundwater with solvents, metals, petroleum hydrocarbons, and radionuclides.