CORPS, CLWA PLEDGE CLEANUP AGENCIES AGREE TO SHARE COSTS.

Byline: Kathleen Sweeney Staff Writer

SAUGUS - Overlooking the defunct Bermite site, officials from the Castaic Lake Water Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pledged their commitment Friday to develop a plan to clean up the pollution contaminating the Saugus Aquifer.

With support from U.S. Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, the two agencies signed a cost-sharing agreement that will map the plume of perchlorate in the area's groundwater as well as secure federal money allocated for the cleanup. McKeon is seeking $17.5 million in federal funding for the cleanup.

``The federal government has some responsibility in cleaning that up,'' McKeon told an audience Friday. ``We will continue on that effort.''

Brig. Gen. Robert Davis, a commander and division engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said his agency's job is to protect the country's water system and the new challenge of cleaning up perchlorate.

``It's a great opportunity for us to bring our experience to solve a problem,'' he said.

The CLWA will pay $4.8 million of the $9.6 million study, but hopes Remediation Financial Inc., the owner of the Bermite munitions factory property, will pay for nearly $3 million of the agency's share. If RFI backs out - it already has claimed it is broke - the CLWA will be responsible for the entire amount.

RFI hasn't signed the agreement but is working with the water agency and the Army Corps. The company, which is planning a housing development there, has said it's unable to continue work on the site unless the city allows it begin building homes as sections of the 1,000-acre property are cleaned.

In 1997, perchlorate, a byproduct of rocket fuel, was discovered in four municipal wells - two of which the CLWA acquired with its purchase of the Santa Clarita Water Co.

State officials said more than 275 chemicals were used at the munitions factory over five decades, and about 40 have been found in the property's soil and groundwater.

The initial phase of the cleanup, which will be done by the corps, is estimated to cost $4.6 million. The total cost for the project is unknown, but it could reach as high as $35 million.

Before the cleanup can begin, officials must determine how far the pollution has spread. To do that, monitoring wells will be drilled throughout the property, in the heart of Santa Clarita. Two wells will be in place by September, with the remainder drilled by the end of the year. The study of the contamination will be completed by the end of 2003.

Robert Sagehorn, retired CLWA general manager, said once a plan is in place, a solution to cleaning up the contaminant is simple.

First, a series of wells could be drilled around the source, he explained. Most of the water would then trickle into the wells, which would then be treated.

Some of the water will escape the wells, which would force the agency to build a specialized filtering and treatment system at the water agency's production plant, Sagehorn said. There the water would be treated.

``This is a thing that is something that can be fixed,'' he said. ``The only thing is it's going to be awfully expensive.''

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Brig. Gen. Robert Davis of the Army Corps of Engineers and Dan Masnada, general manager of the Castaic Lake Water Agency, sign a cost-sharing agreement Friday.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer