BERMITE DECISION DELAYED POTENTIAL BUYER SEEKS TIME.Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer SANTA CLARITA Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, - The firm contemplating buying the defunct Bermite explosives factory site has again asked for more time to make a decision, but company officials said they remain interested in the polluted pol·lute tr.v. pol·lut·ed, pol·lut·ing, pol·lutes 1. To make unfit for or harmful to living things, especially by the addition of waste matter. See Synonyms at contaminate. 2. property. A final deal to purchase the hilly hill·y adj. hill·i·er, hill·i·est 1. Having many hills. 2. Similar to a hill; steep. hill land in the center of the city is not expected before September - 23 months after Cherokee Investment Partners began drafting plans to clean up and redevelop re·de·vel·op v. re·de·vel·oped, re·de·vel·op·ing, re·de·vel·ops v.tr. 1. To develop (something) again. 2. the property, company officials said. ``We've got our heads down heads down - [Sun] Concentrating, usually so heavily and for so long that everything outside the focus area is missed. See also hack mode and larval stage, although this mode is hardly confined to fledgling hackers. , and we're trying to finalize the deal,'' said Dwight Stenseth, Cherokee's managing director. ``There are a lot of different things to work out, and it just takes time.'' City officials tout the North Carolina-based firm as the best chance to rid the 996-acre site off Soledad Canyon Soledad Canyon is a long narrow canyon / valley located in Los Angeles County, California between the cities of Palmdale and Santa Clarita. Soledad Canyon contains the localities of Vincent, Acton, Ravenna, and Agua Dulce. Road of toxic chemicals and to clean up the groundwater beneath the former factory. Officials with Cherokee, one of the nation's leading remediation firms, estimate the cleanup will take three to four years and cost $65 million. Cherokee had been expected to complete purchase of the property by the end of last month, but too many unanswered questions and unresolved issues remain, Stenseth said. Before finalizing the purchase, Cherokee must come to an agreement with the state agency overseeing the cleanup about what needs to be done and when and how it will be paid for, Stenseth said. Also up in the air is what role Whittaker Corp., which manufactured items from bullets to missiles on the property for 20 years, would play in the cleanup. Company officials are also hopeful that the lawsuit filed against Whittaker by the Castaic Lake Castaic Lake is a lake on Castaic Creek formed by Castaic Dam, in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, near the town of Castaic. The 323,700 acre foot lake (399,000,000 m³) is the terminus of the West Branch of the California Aqueduct, though some comes from the 154 mi² Water Agency can be settled. Castaic and other local water agencies sued to force Whittaker to pay to clean up the groundwater pollution that has shut down five drinking-water wells. The asking price for the land is thought to be at least $65 million, the amount of liens against the property. ``We haven't seen anything that has scared us off,'' Stenseth said. ``We're confident that we can resolve the remaining issues.'' Cherokee and city officials have agreed to redesign the development planned for the site to include fewer homes and more jobs, perhaps at a convention center or hotel that would stimulate economic development in Santa Clarita. Heather MacDonald, (661) 257-5257 heather.macdonald(at)dailynews.com |
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