BERMITE: WHO'S RESPONSIBLE? BLAME FOR WATER CONTAMINATION NOT CLEAR ISSUE.

Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - No one disputes that solvents were dumped on the ground, scrap metal piled in heaps and bullets left where they fell after testing on the site of the Bermite explosives factory.

But assigning blame for the pollution that has closed four municipal wells and rendered the center of Santa Clarita unusable is much more difficult, although experts and officials say there is plenty to go around.

``It is easy to point fingers but much tougher to assign blame,'' said Greg Trimarche, an environmental lawyer hired by the city to work on the Porta Bella development planned for the site of the former ordnance plant.

For nearly 50 years, the 996 acres off Soledad Canyon Road were used by defense contractors to build and test dynamite, Sidewinder missiles and small rockets used in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Cold War.

``We know what work was done at Bermite, and we've found those chemicals on the site,'' said Sara Amir, head of Southern California operations for the state Department of Toxic Substance Control, which is overseeing the clean-up efforts. ``Those companies will be held responsible for that pollution.''

Today, Phoenix, Ariz.-based Remediation Financial Inc. plans to build 3,000 homes, a school and parkland on the site. But first, the chemicals must be eliminated from the soil, the unexploded ordnance waste must be carted off and the groundwater cleaned of perchlorate, a byproduct of rocket fuel that may cause thyroid problems.

``It is almost impossible not to have some sort of leak at industrial sites, especially in the 1950s and 1960s,'' Trimarche said. ``The technology just wasn't there.''

The former explosives factory, which has been owned by a half-dozen companies - including the Bermite Powder Co. and Whittaker Corp. - is one of thousands of industrial sites all over the country that cities and states are struggling to clean. The cleanup is expensive, and many critics say there is no certainty the site will ever be suitable for use.

``People were just not aware of the impact of the chemicals,'' Trimarche said. ``Standard practices involved tossing solvents out the back door where they evaporated. People didn't know those chemicals would go hundreds of feet down and get into the groundwater.''

There has been no evidence discovered that any of the companies that owned the Bermite facility illegally dumped chemicals or munitions on the property, records show.

``These companies may be to blame, but they may not be morally culpable,'' Trimarche said.

U.S. Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, has said that because the companies were completing defense department contracts, the federal government should bear some of the burden.

McKeon obtained $5 million for the cleanup last year and has asked for an additional money in this year's budget from both the Energy and Defense departments.

The Department of Toxic Substances Control has a court order that requires Whittaker-Bermite to pay for the cleanup.

That consent decree will be enforced only if the current owner's development arm, Santa Clarita LLC, goes bankrupt or fails to meet the obligations outlined in the enforceable agreement the company signed with the DTSC several months ago.

``In this case there is really only one company to deal with, and this company wants to clean it up,'' Amir said. ``That makes it much simpler.''

RFI and Santa Clarita LLC representatives have vowed to clean the property to the highest standard and say they have no intention of reneging on their agreement with the DTSC to complete their work.

Santa Clarita LLC is working, with DTSC oversight, to determine the extent of the pollution on the site and how large and in what direction the groundwater pollution is moving.

And that's where the blame game gets even murkier, officials and experts said.

Because it is incredibly difficult to pinpoint one specific, above-ground source of groundwater pollution, the issue of who should pay for the cleanup has become contentious and has led to litigation that all sides involved believe has slowed the process down, Trimarche said.

Records show that other companies in the area also used or produced rocket fuel. Santa Clarita LLC officials have said the groundwater pollution may have been caused or at least worsened by other companies.

``That's laughable,'' said Connie Worden Roberts, the co-chair of the Bermite Citizens Advisory Group and a leading critic of the planned development. ``Those are specious arguments. They bought the property - they need to stand up and be counted.''

The Castaic Lake Water Agency, which relies on groundwater should state sources dwindle in drought years, sued Santa Clarita LLC in November, hoping to force the company to clean the water with well-head treatments immediately. DTSC officials have advised against that course of action.

``Other companies in the area could certainly be at fault,'' Amir said. ``Like many have said, there is plenty of blame to go around.''

SITE HISTORY

Since 1934, six companies have run heavy industrial operations on the land now known as the Porta Bella property. An environmental cleanup is underway, and site planned as a commercial and residential development.

WHO WHEN WHAT

Los Angeles Powder Co. 1934-36 Dynamite

Golden State Fireworks 1939 Fireworks

Halifax Explosives Co. 1936-42 Fireworks

E.P. Halliburton Inc. 1942 Oilfield explosives

Bermite Powder Co. 1942-67 Flares, photoflash bombs (illumination devices), explosives

Whittaker Corp. 1967-87Igniters, flares, tracers, ammunition rounds, gas generators, practice bombs, (aka signal cartridges) and sidewinder and JATO rocket motors

Remediation Financial Inc/Santa Clarita LLC1999-presentLand restoration and development company.

CAPTION(S):

box, map

Box: SITE HISTORY (see text)

Map: Porta Bella Project site