COUNCIL TO MEET ON SITE.Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer SANTA CLARITA - Residents - and the City Council - remain divided about what should be done to clean up the site of the former Bermite explosives factory. The City Council will take up the issue again at its 6 p.m. meeting tonight at City Hall's Council Chambers, two months after a community meeting where participants could only agree to disagree Agree to disagree or "agreeing to disagree" describes or refers to a situation where two or more people or groups of people resolve conflict by reaching an agreement whereby both sides tolerate but do not accept the views, opinions or position of the other side. . ``Everyone agrees that the soil and the groundwater need to be cleaned up, and that's the only thing,'' said Jeff Lambert, the city's director of planning and building services. ``No one agrees what to do or how to do it.'' About 275 chemicals left over from decades of munitions mu·ni·tion 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. manufacturing by Whittaker-Bermite pollute the property. Cleaning the site, which is also littered with unexploded ordnance waste, and ridding the area's groundwater of perchlorate perchlorate: see chlorate. , a byproduct by·prod·uct or by-prod·uct n. 1. Something produced in the making of something else. 2. A secondary result; a side effect. Noun 1. of rocket fuel, has proved to be a complicated, drawn-out and expensive process. The city staff will recommend that the City Council set up a task force on groundwater and soil cleanup, hold another community meeting, find ways to inform the public about the cleanup, and organize groundwater discussions between property owner Remediation Financial Inc. and local water agencies. ``There needs to be a public process beyond what is required by the DTSC DTSC Department of Toxic Substances Control DTSC DARCOM Technical Steering Committee , a more formalized for·mal·ize tr.v. for·mal·ized, for·mal·iz·ing, for·mal·iz·es 1. To give a definite form or shape to. 2. a. To make formal. b. process,'' Lambert said. The DTSC's Citizens Advisory Group meets once a month to discuss issues and pepper officials with questions. In recent months, many group members, led by Chairwoman Connie Worden-Roberts, have been among the most outspoken opponents of the cleanup and RFI's plan to build 3,000 homes on the 1,000 acres in the center of the city. Work has slowed because RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) High-frequency electromagnetic waves that emanate from electronic devices such as chips. RFI - Radio Frequency Interference and developer Santa Clarita LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control have run out of capital for the project, and face $476,076 in overdue bills from the Department of Toxic Substances, the state agency overseeing the cleanup. A lawsuit filed by the Castaic Lake Water Agency has also complicated the process. The suit seeks to force RFI to begin cleaning up the groundwater immediately. RFI officials say they are following DTSC recommendations to study the size and scope of the pollution before starting a cleanup operation. Santa Clarita LLC hopes that the City Council will allow it to build homes on each section of the land as the sections are cleared by the DTSC. Without approval, company officials say the project will fall apart because of a lack of investors. However, the City Council isn't considering that proposal, with several council members saying it's too risky. DTSC officials say phased development would be a safe and effective way of cleaning up the former munitions manufacturing and testing facility. |
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