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<strong>March</strong> <strong>2016</strong> THE <strong>Reader</strong> • 7<br />
SauguS<br />
Bermite Development Agreement expiring this month<br />
Specific Plan remains<br />
By Josh Premako<br />
Staff Writer<br />
While the development agreement<br />
expires later this month for the<br />
nearly 1,000-acre former Whittaker-Bermite<br />
property in the center of Santa<br />
Clarita, it is not expected to have an effect on<br />
the ongoing cleanup efforts of the contaminated<br />
land.<br />
Located between Railroad Avenue and<br />
Golden Valley Road, the property was for<br />
much of the 20th century home to munitions<br />
manufacturing and testing. Decades of contamination<br />
necessitated groundwater and<br />
soil cleanup work that is expected to continue<br />
for years.<br />
Nearly 21 years ago, in May 1995, the<br />
Santa Clarita City Council approved the Porta<br />
Bella Specific Plan for the sprawling property.<br />
The following <strong>March</strong> its accompanying development<br />
agreement was signed. That development<br />
agreement expires on <strong>March</strong> 28.<br />
Over the past two decades, the property has<br />
changed hands several times, and current<br />
ownership is divided among multiple entities<br />
that have interests in the site. Financial responsibility<br />
for cleanup, however, remains<br />
with the Whittaker Corp. and its successors,<br />
according to Tom Cole, Santa Clarita’s director<br />
of community development.<br />
In addition to the development agreement<br />
allowing for more than 1,200 single-family<br />
homes, nearly 1,700 multi-family units and<br />
96 acres of commercial property, the specific<br />
plan calls for 407 acres of dedicated open<br />
space and 42 acres of recreational-use space.<br />
With the development agreement expiring,<br />
any proposals by a developer in the future<br />
would need to undergo a full environmental<br />
review and public hearing process. City officials<br />
have said there are no development<br />
plans on the horizon for the site.<br />
While the development agreement is expiring<br />
at the end of the month, Cole said the<br />
specific plan for the property will remain in<br />
The former Whittaker-Bermite property is visible in this photo, looking southwest from near the intersection of Golden Valley Road and Centre Pointe Parkway. The California<br />
Aqueduct is visible at the lower right. PhoTo By DAn FAinA/FoR The READER<br />
place indefinitely, either until it is amended<br />
by the City Council or replaced with another,<br />
amended development agreement sometime<br />
in the future. The agreement’s expiration will<br />
not affect cleanup, a state official said.<br />
“We don’t anticipate that this will affect<br />
cleanup,” said Russ Edmonson, spokesman<br />
for the California Department of Toxic Substances<br />
Control.<br />
The site is divided into several Operable<br />
Units, or OUs, as part of a remedial action<br />
plan that was approved by the DTSC in 2010.<br />
Edmonson said cleanup in OU5 is 95 percent<br />
complete, work continues in OU2 and construction<br />
of a groundwater treatment facility<br />
Women assemble fuses at the Bermite Powder Co. in the mid-1950s. The company produced an array of explosive devices and fuses for the<br />
U.S. military. PhoTo CoURTeSy oF <strong>SCV</strong>hiSToRy.CoM<br />
in OU7 is continuing.<br />
The chief contaminant on the property has<br />
been perchlorate, a byproduct of rocket fuel<br />
that has been linked to human thyroid problems,<br />
which has polluted groundwater and<br />
soil on the property.<br />
Since 2006, more than 41 million gallons of<br />
groundwater from the northern alluvium area<br />
near the Metrolink station on Soledad Canyon<br />
Road have been extracted and treated, according<br />
to a February report by project coordinator<br />
Hassan Amini. Additionally, in<br />
January, the DTSC began testing a storm water<br />
filtration system for the property.<br />
The DTSC estimates construction of<br />
groundwater cleanup<br />
infrastructure could<br />
take close to a year,<br />
and officials have estimated<br />
complete<br />
groundwater cleanup<br />
could take nearly 20<br />
years total.<br />
Of the 996 acres,<br />
only about 500 are developable,<br />
according to<br />
past reports by DTSC<br />
officials, due in part to<br />
ridgelines and streams<br />
on the property.<br />
After the development<br />
agreement for<br />
the site was approved,<br />
a concerned citizens<br />
group filed a lawsuit,<br />
with concerns that<br />
only the least-contaminated<br />
parts of the<br />
property would be<br />
cleaned up prior to development.<br />
As part of<br />
the lawsuit’s settlement,<br />
a condition<br />
called DS12 was included,<br />
requiring full<br />
site cleanup by DTSC before any development<br />
can be carried out.<br />
Edmonson said DTSC officials are still<br />
awaiting a response from city officials on<br />
whether that condition will apply for future<br />
development agreements. Cole said that<br />
DS12 expires along with the development<br />
agreement. He referred questions about how<br />
its expiration could affect future development<br />
agreements to DTSC officials, who responded<br />
to the <strong>Reader</strong>: “DTSC does not have<br />
jurisdiction on planning or redevelopment<br />
ordinances. DTSC is responsible for overseeing<br />
the cleanup of the site and for making<br />
sure the property or portions of the property<br />
are safe for the intended use.”<br />
The site’s future holds not just development<br />
potential, but the opportunity to improve<br />
local infrastructure with the extension<br />
of several roads as part of Santa Clarita’s general<br />
plan, including connecting Via Princess<br />
to Wiley Canyon Road. While the city has<br />
been moving ahead with work to extend Via<br />
Princessa between Sheldon Avenue and<br />
Golden Valley Road, city officials have maintained<br />
that cleanup must be completed on<br />
the former Whittaker-Bermite site before<br />
road extensions through the site will take<br />
place.<br />
Site cleanup is funded by insurance proceeds<br />
from various parties. While Whittaker’s<br />
insurance policy for the property<br />
reportedly expires at the end of the decade,<br />
officials have maintained they are committed<br />
to site cleanup. Whittaker’s general counsel<br />
Eric Lardiere declined to comment last<br />
month on any questions related to the insurance.<br />
As recently as several years ago, he<br />
stated: “Many millions of dollars have been<br />
spent already, and we will continue to do so.”<br />
Cole added: “Whittaker Corp. (or their successors)<br />
has the responsibility to pay for any<br />
cleanup that might not be covered by the insurance.<br />
The city is not taking any action that<br />
would change this responsibility.” R