BERMITE SITE SALE EYED UPLAND FIRM WANTS FORMER MUNITIONS PLANT.

Byline: Susan Abram Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - An Upland-based real estate group has entered into an agreement to buy the contaminated Whittaker-Bermite property, a site the city has been eager to clean up and develop for years.

Lewis-Soledad Canyon LLC filed a motion of interest in an Arizona bankruptcy court Tuesday to make way for the possible purchase from three shareholders of the 996 acres.

``They believe they have all the resources to pull the top experts together to remediate the property,'' said Annette McCluskey, spokeswoman for the Lewis Group of Companies.

The Lewis Group is considered one of the nation's largest privately held real estate development groups, McCluskey said. The Lewis Group focuses on developing mixed-use planned communities and residential subdivisions in California and Nevada, as well as building multifamily communities, shopping centers, office parks and industrial space, according to its Web site.

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.

Manufacturing operations at Whittaker-Bermite concluded in 1987, but the site is contaminated with various chemical compounds, including perchlorate and heavy metals, solvents and possibly remnants of fired munitions, which have migrated into the valley's groundwater system.

The area is known locally as the ``doughnut hole,'' because it sits undeveloped in the middle of the city of Santa Clarita.

Because of perchlorate contamination, five drinking water wells have been closed and an extensive cleanup effort ordered.

The Castaic Lake Water Agency, working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers since 2002, is working to design a process to purify the contaminated areas. The capital cost is $4 million, agency officials estimate, and an additional $1 million annually for the cleanup.

Santa Clarita officials have said the city's best chance of quickly cleaning up Bermite and the water supply was if a developer specializing in contaminated properties would acquire it to build a mix of homes and commercial developments.

Cherokee Investment Partners, a North Carolina-based firm that specializes in such projects, has been interested in the property for more than two years. But Cherokee's bid for the land has stalled because of the $65 million worth of liens on the property.

``We have been pursuing purchase of this site for more than two years and feel we have a handle on remediation needs and requirements,'' said Cherokee spokesman Dwight Stenseth, who was visiting Santa Clarita Tuesday to discuss the issue with city officials.

``We've talked to all the various stakeholders and we are strongly interested in moving forward,'' he said.

The Lewis Groups' court filing will open the doors for other companies to make bids on the property.

``This company coming in and developing an agreement doesn't preclude other entities from bidding on the property as well,'' said Santa Clarita Planning Manager Lisa Hardy. ``There are any number of bidders that can throw their hats in.''

Despite the long process of waiting for a suitable company to take over the site, city officials have maintained they have certain expectations for whoever gets ownership.

``We're looking for a company that has the financial wherewithal and technical expertise to address the contamination of this property,'' Hardy said. ``We're looking for a company that can expedite the remediations and clean it to the most conservative levels.''

The site's current condition has stood in the way of future developments, Hardy said, though the portion of the 8.5-mile Cross Valley Connector that crosses through Whittaker-Bermite has been completed.

``The No. 1 goal is to protect the general welfare of the population,'' Hardy said. ``There is a sense of urgency to expedite the cleanup, to bring this blighted industrial property to use - from open space to institutional use.''

Susan Abram, [phone]

susan.abram(at)dailynews.com