BOARD SIGNS OFF ON EIR HOUSING PROJECT A GO, DESPITE OPPOSITION.Byline: Eugene Tong Staff Writer The county Board of Supervisors The examples and perspective in this article or section may represent an unduly geographically limited view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. The Board of Supervisors is the body governing counties in the U.S. on Tuesday cleared the way for Newhall Land's proposed 2,200-home West Creek project in Valencia, some three months after the chemical perchlorate perchlorate: see chlorate. showed up in a local water well and stalled development. The panel voted 3-1 to adopt the project and certify its environmental impact report, which now includes a supplement on the contaminated well and cleanup procedures. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who was skeptical about decontamination decontamination /de·con·tam·i·na·tion/ (de?kon-tam-i-na´shun) the freeing of a person or object of some contaminating substance, e.g., war gas, radioactive material, etc. de·con·tam·i·na·tion n. , dissented, and 4th district Supervisor Don Knabe was absent. ``It's been a long process for West Creek,'' said Marlee Lauffer, spokeswoman for The Newhall Land and Farming Company The Newhall Land and Farming Company is a land management company based in Valencia, California, United States. The company is responsible for the master community planning of Valencia, as well as the management of farm land elsewhere in the state. . ``But it's going to be a great community.'' The project slated for 996 acres in unincorporated northern Valencia had received board approval in March, a month before the well tested positive for perchlorate, a rocket fuel chemical that has been connected to thyroid problems in high doses. Valencia Water Co. said the well has been removed from service, and treatment could begin this fall. The state recommends no more than 6 parts per billion of the chemical in drinking water drinking water supply of water available to animals for drinking supplied via nipples, in troughs, dams, ponds and larger natural water sources; an insufficient supply leads to dehydration; it can be the source of infection, e.g. leptospirosis, salmonellosis, or of poisoning, e.g. - the well tested at about 10 parts per billion. Opponents believe the decision should have been postponed until the cleanup begins, as its impact on the region's overall water supply remains unclear. ``I think they should wait until remediation would be online,'' said Lynne Plambeck, president of the Santa Clarita Organization for Planning the Environment, which has sued to stop the project. The well, east of Bouquet Creek and the Santa Clara River Santa Clara River may refer to:
n. War materiel, especially weapons and ammunition. Often used in the plural. tr.v. mu·ni·tioned, mu·ni·tion·ing, mu·ni·tions To supply with munitions. plant. The company, which tested dynamite, missiles and small rockets on some 996 acres off Soledad Canyon Road for nearly 50 years, until its closing in 1987, has offered more than $500,000 to decontaminate de·con·tam·i·nate tr.v. de·con·tam·i·nat·ed, de·con·tam·i·nat·ing, de·con·tam·i·nates 1. To eliminate contamination in. 2. the well. Rachel Myers of the Sierra Club Sierra Club, national organization in the United States dedicated to the preservation and expansion of the world's parks, wildlife, and wilderness areas. Founded (1892) in California by a group led by the Scottish-American conservationist John Muir, the Sierra Club contends Valencia Water has shown little progress in past cleanup efforts. ``For the last five years, the Valencia Water Company has been telling this board and others that everything is fine and a pollution fix will be online immediately,'' she said. ``Remediation is still not under way, no containment of the pollution plume exists and characterization of the size of the plume still needs more review.'' Plambeck, also a Newhall County Water District board member and part of a minority that disputes the region's water supply totals, urged more study of the pollution plume that has hampered development of the city's core for more than a decade. ``It's been moving westerly; it will continue to go westerly,'' she said. Lauffer questioned the opponent's motivations. ``I would think Ms. Plambeck would be jumping with joy that Valencia Water has instituted a cleanup program,'' Lauffer said. ``But it seems like she's trying to slow it down.'' Eugene Tong, (661) 257-5253 eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): map Map: West Creek, 2,500 home development |
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