What We Know

During the past 15 years, numerous studies have been conducted on the chemical and radiation content of the air, water and soil on the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) property and the surrounding area. Four types of media have been studied closely (e.g., air, groundwater, surface water and soil) and the results of these studies have been collected at several local libraries, including California State University, Northridge and Simi Valley Public Library.

To date, studies have been somewhat restricted to the SSFL area; there has been less off-site data collection than on-site collection. In general, most studies have been concerned with mediating and mitigating environmental chemicals or radiation at the site. Different companies have designed and carried out many of these studies and, as a result, each of the studies has been somewhat unique. This uniqueness makes it rather difficult for scientists to compare the studies and identify trends over time.

There has been much controversy over the past two decades as to the impact of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory on the health of its workers and people living in the surrounding area. It is yet to be determined whether the health of the surrounding community has been affected by the activities at SSFL. This subject has been of great interest for a long time, but it is considerably more difficult to examine and make conclusions about the impact on the community (than on the workers) for several reasons:

1. There is a lack of historical data regarding conditions in the community.
2. There is a lack of resources to conduct large-scale epidemiological surveys.
3. There has been a great deal of in-migration and out-migration in the community (issues of population change) during the past several decades. This can impede people from making clear inferences about the links between exposure levels and population health.

Introduction | Prior Studies | Current Study | Who We Are | Timeline | Funding | Contact Information | Home