EPA will use mules to find radioactive contamination on steep terrain at LA-area lab site

Mules will help in radiation survey at LA-area lab

LOS ANGELES — The Environmental Protection Agency has a new weapon in the fight against radioactive contamination at a Los Angeles-area lab: Mules.

The EPA will use four mules to carry high-tech scanning equipment to detect radiation on steep and rocky terrain at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory.

The EPA is conducting a survey of soil and water contamination at the lab near Simi Valley, where rocket engines were tested for years and a partial meltdown of a nuclear reactor took place in 1959.

About 500 acres of the lab will be scanned for gamma radiation.

Results will be turned over to the state, which is overseeing a cleanup.