I have recently found a very fun area to ride that is near my home. Subscribers to the Santa Barbara Unicycle Club email list already have been introduced to this area, which I have called Wizz Bang.
I am very excited about this area as it offers a lot of varied areas to ride that are just out right fun. That’s the good part.
There is, however, a possible problem. Wizz Bang is down slope from where they tested rocket engines in the 1960’s. This is the Rocketdyne plant. One of the chemicals used in the manufacture of rocket fuel is perchlorate. Perchlorate can create problems to the thyroid gland if a person is exposed to too much. Perchlorate was found in the creek near the bottom where a luxury housing development is going to be built. The developer has offered to pay for the clean up of the tainted soil. The development is well down slope from Wizz Bang.
There is a creek that runs through Wizz Bang. It runs about 100 feet below most of the riding areas nestled in a steep valley, almost a ravine.
My concern is the risk of exposure. I am wondering if any member of the message board has experience with chemicals like perchlorate.
As a rider, one wouldn’t be in direct contact with the water, only on the very bottom of Wizz Bang, where the trail meets the creek, if you decided to ride across the creek at that point. at best, it might be 6 feet or about 2 meters across and quite shallow.
Lets assume for a minute that the perchlorate has seeped into the soil under the creek all the way down from the top to the bottom over the past 50 years. When the creek flow slows down, the chemical could still be leached out of the soil into the still areas of the creek.
What risk is there from the evaporation of the chemical into the air and changing to a gas and then finally being inhaled by MUni riders exercising at maximum cardio vascular rates where deep breathing pulls in air deeply into the lungs?
Essentially, I am asking what is the risk to myself and others riding in the vicinity of the creek within 100 feet upslope of the creek? Personally, I would only be out there at best once a week for 1 hour to 1.5 hour ride.
Last week as I was mapping the area, I ran into a group of men who were hiking at the bottom of Wizz Bang. We chatted and the chemical issue came up. They lived nearby and one of them mentioned that you could see what he called Tri- chlor pooling on the top of the water in the creek after the rains had stopped and reported that you could smell it as well. I don’t know what Tri-Chlor is. I assumed it was another name for perchlorate.
Rocketdyne claims that there is no chemical at the top, and claims no studies have found that the perchlorate could come from there, yet it is at the bottom of the creek. From Rocktdyne to the bottom of the creek is probably a difference in altitude of 4 or 500 feet over a distance of @ 1 mile.
As far as I know, there are no cancer clusters in and around the creek area. I live about a mile from the end of the creek where they are going to build the luxury homes.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks