Strong, Chemical Odor near Santa Susana Field Laboratory Fire Impact Area . by Alice B. Clagett
Channel: Alice Clagett-Personal
Date: 2018-12-19

Strong, Chemical Odor near Santa Susana Field Laboratory Fire Impact Area . by Alice B. Clagett
Strong, Chemical Odor near Santa Susana Field Laboratory  Woolsey Fire Impact Area on 18 December 2018 . by Alice B. Clagett https://youtu.be/YLh5zQ8n9h4 
13 May 2020 - I HAVE DUPLICATED THIS VIDEO ON MY IAMOFTHESTARS site.

I have been hiking this trail for about 10 years. This is the first time I smelled this odor. I note it was in a fire impact area of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory for the recent Woolsey Canyon Fire.

NOTE LINKS TO TWO INCIDENT MAPS AT THE END OF THIS INFORMATION

Screenplay and Images by Alice B. Clagett, Producer, CC BY-SA 4.0 
Music: “Prelude No. 6” from the album “Preludes” by Chris Zabriskie, CC BY 4.0
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Today I smelled a strong, chemical odor while hiking the Sage Ranch Loop Trail - Simi Valley at Sage Ranch Park, near its southwest border adjacent to the site of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory.

A Wikipedia article on the Santa Susana  Field Laboratory mentions “highly toxic chemical additives to power over 30,000 rocket engine tests and to clean the rocket test-stands afterward” …

The Wikipedia article also mentions a NASA statement about soil and groundwater contamination, and issues of cancer to do with Santa Susana Field Laboratory operations brought up by other people in years past.

I wonder if the odor I smelled might have been those highly toxic chemical additives, and if so, whether their release into the air had to do with the fire, or maybe the subsequent rains?

I also wonder whether, for health reasons, the Sage Ranch Loop Trail - Simi Valley ought to be closed to hikers till the strong, chemical odor is gone from the air?

And I wonder whether the people doing the earthwork might need  to be wearing N95 dust masks, or maybe even gas masks to avoid health hazards while doing the work (if they are not already doing so).

Wikipedia also mentions a Sodium Reactor Experiment 1957 to 1964 at Santa Susana Field Laboratory and that a "meltdown caused the release of more than 458 times the amount of radioactivity released by the Three Mile Island accident".

Thus I have another question whether the issue of radioactive contamination might pertain to the high winds during the Woolsey Canyon Fire, or to the earthwork operation I noticed on my hike today?

I will put links to relevant maps regarding the Woolsey Fire perimeter, the site of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, and Sage Ranch Park in the “Show More” section for this video.
See also "Santa Susana Field Laboratory," in Wikipedia ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Susana_Field_Laboratory

CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported

INCIDENT MAP 1. Here is a fire map of the northern edge of the Woolsey Canyon Fire (in yellow) as well as the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (lower left), Boeing Santa Susana (top left), Sage Ranch Park (middle) and Summit Mobile Home Park across from which the Woolsey Canyon Fire originated (right) … 

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1IkW-WhQoRcP4WGIIP-h_v6WK8zb0jG3M&ll=34.24411288548368%2C-118.6854433468356&z=15

INCIDENT MAP 2. In this closeup, you can see where the Sage Ranch Loop Trail - Simi Valley loops up, next to a more or less rectangular, grey area of Boeing Santa Susana where the earth moving was taking place. I smelled the odd odor at the loop in the trail, where air funnels down above a watercourse that runs in the low area between the east-west portion of Sage Ranch Loop Trail – Simi Valley and F Street, both of which are at the bottom of this map … 

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1IkW-WhQoRcP4WGIIP-h_v6WK8zb0jG3M&ll=34.23909937784168%2C-118.68570117137722&z=17

Santa Susana Field Laboratory, Sage Ranch Park, Woolsey Canyon Fire, Woolsey Fire, Simi Hills,