CURRENT OWNERS CHASTISED.

Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - The current owners of the defunct Bermite explosives factory failed to meet the terms of the 2,911-home Porta Bella development agreement, according to a Santa Clarita City Council vote.

Remediation Financial Inc., which bought the site in 1999, had hoped to develop the polluted land in the center of the city into the Porta Bella subdivision, complete with homes, businesses and a road network critical to the rest of the city.

``Not one square inch of this property has been cleaned,'' Councilman Bob Kellar said. ``There is zero reason to think anything will change as long as we remain mired in this mess.''

The Tuesday night vote was unanimous.

The property near the Metrolink station on Soledad Canyon Road is contaminated with several dozen toxic chemicals and unexploded ordnance waste left over from decades of weapons manufacturing for the U.S. military. The groundwater beneath the site is contaminated with perchlorate, a byproduct of rocket fuel that has been linked to thyroid disease.

Phoenix-based RFI's plan fell apart in 2001 when the City Council refused to allow the property to be developed in phases, as each section was certified as clean by state officials. Soon after, the firm's local development company ran out of money, work stopped and RFI put the 996-acre site up for sale.

RFI Director of Development Gary Brown told the council that the company tried to meet the terms of the 1996 agreement but failed when phased development was rejected.

Brown said the council's decision was based on illogical conclusions driven by a political agenda.

The City Council found that RFI had failed in four areas: It refused to provide any evidence of good-faith compliance with the development agreement, refused to provide insurance protection to the city, failed to meet the terms of its cleanup agreement with the state Department of Toxic Substances Control and improperly attempted to terminate the city's right to use and occupy the Metrolink station.

The council members dismissed Brown's concerns that the action could complicate the sale of the former munitions factory to a North Carolina firm that is considering purchasing the land.

Cherokee Investment Partners, one of the nation's most experienced remediation companies, has pledged to clean up the hilly property in three or four years for about $65 million. Company officials are expected to decide in the next several weeks whether to finalize the purchase agreement.

Planning Director Jeff Lambert and other officials have told the City Council that the city's best chance of cleaning up the property and stemming the pollution of the Saugus Aquifer hinges on a quick sale of the site to a company with the resources and motivation to clean and develop it, such as Cherokee.

While City Attorney Carl Newton has acknowledged that a finding of noncompliance could make a sale less attractive, he said that the City Council could stop short of terminating the development agreement, which would force Cherokee to start over.