CLEANUP EFFORTS TARGETS GROUNDWATER POLLUTION AT GROUNDWATER AND SURFACE LEVELS.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - A 150-foot well near Soledad Canyon Road was plugged a dozen years ago with cement, and recent tests confirmed early suspicions - explosives had been discarded down the shaft.

That's just one of the complications state officials and landowners face as they try to clean up the defunct Whitaker-Bermite munitions factory in Saugus, the source of contamination that has closed four drinking water wells in Santa Clarita.

Gleaning details from decades of company records and from former employees of the longtime defense contractor, investigators with the state Department of Toxic Substances Control are tackling Bermite pollution on two fronts: on the surface and in the groundwater.

The goal is to oversee a complex cleanup that will make the hillsides in the heart of Santa Clarita buildable and cleanse the Saugus Formation, a huge underground source of water, now tainted with chemical residue.

``We are almost finished with the investigation of the area,'' said Nancy Carder, the project manager for the DTSC. ``Then we'll determine how to remedy it. When it will be considered clean? I really can't say at this point.''

Of key concern to the state is the presence of perchlorate, a rocket fuel byproduct that has been found in the massive groundwater basin. Ruling out all other sources, investigators are certain the chemical came from Bermite, Carder said. Perchlorate is believed to cause thyroid disease.

Two hurdles - money and technology - face Arizona-based Remediation Financial Inc., the current owners of the 1,000-acre site. RFI and Santa Clarita LLC bought the land two years ago, and with it the rights to build the 2,911-home community of Porta Bella.

A consultant to local water suppliers estimates cleanup costs at up to $20 million. And because perchlorate detection is relatively new, cleanup methods are experimental.

``We think there's a solution, but it's going to take time,'' said Bob DiPrimio, president of the Valencia Water Co., one of three water retailers that has closed wells because of the contamination. Traces of perchlorate have been found in one Valencia water well.

The landowner is confident the cleanup is feasible, said Greg Boyd, vice president of real estate for Remediation Financial, who anticipates completion in three to four years. Boyd points to the successful cleanup of the first of five study sections on the property. Last week, the DTSC issued a ``no further action'' letter for that 225 acres, which was cleaned first so the city of Santa Clarita can cross it with a new highway.

Concern is mounting among state officials that the rocket fuel residue is more widespread than initially believed. The Saugus Formation is a multilayer geologic structure, a series of aquifers as deep as 8,500 feet below the surface.

``We don't have enough data yet, and we're looking at monitoring and collecting data at deeper zones to see if we can detect the extent of percholorate,'' DTSC Geologist Frank Gonzales said.

Aside from the perchlorate, explosive compounds were found by monitoring wells near an old Bermite well which was plugged in 1988.

``There was alleged disposal of explosives in that well by former employees,'' Carder said. ``This occurred before there were any regulations prohibiting such a thing.

``The well has become a cleanup concern. We installed some monitoring wells and we did discover explosives in the groundwater.''

At this point, Carder says DTSC researchers plan to remove soil and purge the contaminated water for treatment.

State Water Quality Control Board officials nixed one consultant's plan to pump the contaminated water into the Santa Clara River, a method that state officials said would only taint a new area.

That marked another complication for RFI, Boyd said.

``It's a question of how you do it and when you do it,'' he said. ``If the river's flowing after a rain, and what's going in there (from the wells) has such low levels that by the time it's filtered to the groundwater, there's no contamination.

``It's just another challenge. It's a slow and arduous process.''

Still, the DTSC expects to clear one of the problem areas this spring.

The Upper Santa Clara Water Committee, with representatives from each of the local water retailers and the wholesale manager, the Castaic Lake Water Agency, has been meeting on the issue for more than a year and plans public meetings to offer updates, DiPrimio said.

RFI successfully lobbied to be included in legislation that would provide for $7 million in federal funding to research cleanup methods for perchlorate. U.S. Rep. Howard ``Buck'' McKeon was able to add that sum to a larger water cleanup bill, but the legislation has a long road ahead through committee meetings and appropriations hearings, McKeon aide David Foy said.

Federal funding is appropriate, Boyd said, because Bermite was working for the feds at its Saugus plant, and the government should bear some responsibility in the cleanup.

``Let's don't forget how this all got there in the first place,'' Boyd said. ``This was a defense contractor doing business for the government.''

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Map: 150-foot well on Bermite property