Santa Susana Wildlife

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PEIR Biological Harm & exemptions

Exemptions in the AOC

The 2010 “AOC” cleanup agreements included two clauses; biological and cultural exemptions. These were narrowly defined to prevent any harm to endangered plants and animals and to protect cultural artifacts during the cleanup if there were no safe mitigation measures available.

In order to have biological exemptions as part of the cleanup, a Biological Opinion from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) was required. This opinion would need to be included in the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) by its publication in 2017 so the public could comment, according to California’s Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

The 2017 Draft PEIR did not include a biological opinion from the USFWS. Therefore, there can only be biological mitigation measures, not exemptions according to the 2010 AOC Cleanup agreements.

However, the PEIR proposes biological exemptions in all yellow, green, or red areas according to the Final PEIR (see map below). This violates the AOC cleanup and would leave almost all contamination onsite.

*Map of DTSC’s proposed biological exemptions in the 2023 Final PEIR*

SSFL's PROTECTED WILDLIFE

*Image of some of the endangered and threatened species at the SSFL*

Federally endangered species:

Bird: Least Bell's Vireo (Vireo bellii pusillus)

Butterfly: Quino Checkerspot (Euphydryas editha quino)
Butterfly: Lyon's pentachaeta (Pentachaeta lyonii)
Plant: Braunton's milk-vetch (Astragalus brauntonii)
Crustacean: Riverside fairy shrimp (Streptocephalus woottoni)

Federally THREATENED species:

Amphibian: California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii)
Crustacean: Vernal pool fairy shrimp (Branchinecta lynchi)
Bird: Coastal California gnatcatcher (Polioptila californica californica)
Plant: Spreading navarretia (Navarretiafossalis)
Plant: California Orcutt grass (Orcuttia californica)
Plant: Conejo dudleya (Dudleya abramsii ssp. parva)
Plant: Santa Monica Mountains dudleya (Dudleya cymosa ssp. ovatifolia)
Plant: Marcescent dudleya (Dudleya cymosa ssp. marcescens)

Federally listed THREATENED species candidate:

Plant: San Fernando Valley spineflower (Chorizanthe parryi var. fernandina)

California Endangered Species

Plant: Santa Susana Tarplant (Deinandra minthornii)

California Fish and Game: fully protected species

Mammal: Ring-tailed cat (Bassariscus astutus)

California Species of Concern

Reptile: Coast Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma blainvillii)
Reptile: Two-striped Garter Snake (Thamnophis hammondii)
Bird: Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus)
Plant: Plummer’s Mariposa Lily (Calochortus plummerae): CNPS List 1B species
Plant: Slender Mariposa Lily (Calochortus clavatus var. gracilis) CNPS List 1B.2 species

SSFL's Least Bell's Vireo

The Santa Susana Field Lab is home to the Least Bell’s Vireo, an endangered insectivorous passerine (a bird who eat insects). The shy songbird was listed as endangered in California in 1980 and federally listed in 1986.

A study on the Pollution-related changes in diets of two insectivorous passerines is especially relevant to the Least Bell’s Vireo here at the SSFL. In the study, two insectivorous birds were studied, living in areas polluted by a copper smelter. They examined the quality of food the birds gave to their young and their breeding performances. They did not find any differences in feeding frequencies or the amount of food that the parents provided their young. But the food quality was different. They found that heavy metal pollution affects bird’s breeding performances indirectly, due to the food quality given to their young. The study shows the importance of secondary environmental changes, like food quality, in addition to the direct impacts of pollutants.

Our local birds should be protected from the SSFL’s heavy metal contamination, in addition to toxic chemicals and radioactive waste.