BURBANK AIRPORT LOSES BID TO SEIZE EX-LOCKHEED SITE.

Byline: Chip Jacobs Daily News Staff Writer

A Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner Tuesday rejected Burbank Airport officials' attempt to take immediate possession of Lockheed Martin Corp.'s land needed for a new $250 million terminal.

The order by commissioner Bruce Mitchell prevents Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Authority officials from using eminent domain proceedings authorized Aug. 5 to immediately take the 130-acre site, because the commissioner said a fair market price has not been determined.

The crux of the dispute is the cost of cleaning up toxics at the site, known as B-6, which airport officials contend would depress the land's value to about $3 million. The company claims that the land is far more valuable, officials involved in the litigation said.

Mitchell ordered both sides to return to court after more testing to determine the actual cleanup costs.

The city of Burbank is siding with Lockheed, because of its opposition to a larger terminal, which residents fear will generate more jet noise over their homes.

Terry Stevenson,assistant Burbank attorney, said the city was pleased with the decision. Lockheed Martin also issued a short statement in support of the commissioner's ruling.

``The airport tried a rush to judgment and the court didn't buy it,'' Stevenson said. ``The commissioner said there was no reason for the land to change hands in three days. The Authority lost big time.''

But, airport executive director Thomas Greer said the ruling was simply part of ``the process'' to eventually get the land.

``This is just the process,'' Greer said. ``Even if we got the land (the terminal replacement) would still be years away. We have to clean it.''

The Airport Authority has maintained that it will cost at least $36 million to clean up the land located in the airport's northeast quadrant. Lockheed has not given a cleanup estimate.

Soil at the B-6 site is contaminated with hydrocarbons that emanated from stored aviation, diesel and heating fuels, and machine oils, said Alex Carlos, an engineer overseeing the cleanup for the California Regional Water Quality Control Board. The company has been investigating the problem since the late 1980s, but there is no cleanup deadline, he said.

The company recently agreed to a controversial $60 million, out-of-court settlement with 1,300 property owners who claimed that their health and property was damaged by historic toxic emissions from the facility, the Daily News reported. Lockheed settled the case without admitting any liability, and said the plant never posed a health hazard to the community.

Airport Authority officials say the new terminal is necessary so the regional hub can handle the 5.4 million passengers expected to use it by 1998.