Westlake Village
Notice Regarding Brush Fire in Ventura County
Multiple agencies are fighting a large brush fire in Ventura County, near the Camarillo grade between Camarillo and Newbury Park. The fire is moving toward Newbury Park south of the 101 Freeway. Evacuations are in effect. Many University employees live in this area of the Conejo Valley, and some of their homes could become affected. If impacted employees need to attend to their families or homes, they should feel free to do so while coordinating with their supervisors. The EOC is monitoring the situation, and we have DPS presence at the fire command post. There is no threat to the Malibu or Westlake Village campuses at this time, however the fire is not under control and strong winds are spreading the fire rapidly.
No Health Threat For U.S. West Coast From Low Concentration Radioactive Particles From Japan
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reports that “All the available information continues to indicate Hawaii, Alaska, the U.S. Territories, and the U.S. West Coast are not expected to experience any harmful levels of radioactivity,” despite the reports of low concentrations of radioactive particles heading eastward from Japan.
On April 8, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that there are no radiation related health risks to individuals outside of Japan. Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control remains confident that there will be no serious health consequences here in the U.S.
The U.S. continues to monitor the situation through Radnet, a system of 100 radiation monitors overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Pepperdine University officials are also following developments for any changes. Additional information is available from the resources below:
- The California Department of Public Health has opened a phone hotline to address concerns regarding local radiation exposure. The hotline is (916) 341-3947.
- The Centers for Disease Control has also opened a line for those with questions (800) CDC-INFO or (800) 232-4696. Additional information is available on their web site http://emergency.cdc.gov/radiation/.
- The World Health Organization www.who.int
- The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission http://www.nrc.gov/
- The Environmental Protection Agency http://www.epa.gov/radiation/
- Southern California Air Quality Management District http://www.aqmd.gov/news1/2011/Radiationmonitoring.htm
- EPA link to common sources of radiation exposure in everyday life (please scroll to the bottom of the page) http://www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/understand/perspective.html
At this time there are no indications of a risk to the U.S. west coast.
State and federal health officials do not believe that radiation from Japan will create a harmful health threat to the U.S. west coast. Nevertheless, Pepperdine University officials are closely monitoring the situation for any changes. The U.S. Department of Energy has activated the National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center to determine how the radiation would disperse in the atmosphere from Fukushima, and we are following that progress. At this time there are no indications of a risk to the U.S. west coast. Pepperdine remains poised and prepared to respond to various types of emergencies; we maintain food, water, medical, and other supplies for use in an emergency, and our staff practices emergency response. We communicate widely to our student community so that all should know how and where to get instructions during emergencies. Please see our emergency webpage at emergency.pepperdine.edu for further information.
Today’s Power Outage
Due to a lightning strike, an unexpected regional power outage occurred at approximately 11:15 a.m., which included Pepperdine’s Malibu and Westlake Village campuses. Power was restored to both campuses at approximately 11:50 a.m. Southern California Edison does not expect further interruptions from this situation. Roughly 90,000 customers were impacted. At this time power has been restored for roughly half of those customers.
While maintenance related power outages had been scheduled in the Malibu area, they were canceled due to the approaching storm and were not related to this incident.
For further information on how you should respond and how the University responds to Power Outages please see the University’s Emergency Information Page at: https://emergency.pepperdine.edu/power-outages/.
Contact the Office of Insurance & Risk at (310) 506-4410 with any questions.
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Pepperdine Emergency Information 