EPA TO TEST SAUGUS FIRM PERCHLORATE, OTHER POLLUTANTS TO BE PROBED.

Byline: Judy O'Rourke Special to the Daily News

SANTA CLARITA - The Environmental Protection Agency will test groundwater for perchlorate and other contaminants at a Saugus company that tests products for military and commercial use and sits near the polluted Bermite site, an official said Thursday.

The federal agency will visit National Technical Systems on Monday and begin the process of drilling seven test wells to a depth of 80 to 100 feet to check for perchlorate, a byproduct of rocket fuel that has been linked to thyroid disorders.

Tests show that chemicals at NTS - next to the new Golden Valley High School - have not contaminated public water sources, but the EPA wants to know the extent of the pollution on the property.

Access to the site for sampling has been delayed since 2004 due to the company's need to protect its confidential operations and the seasonal demands of the sampling process.

``They wanted us to say exactly where we were going to go before we went and we were going to figure out where we (needed) to sample,'' said Matt Mitguard, project manager for the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund.

NTS tests products and components for telecommunications, aerospace and military applications. The facility performs testing that is involved in national security.

Bob Snyder, a company spokesman, said NTS does not engage in manufacturing and the items it tests are sealed - meaning chemical are within the components and cannot leak.

The agency gained access to the NTS site in early 2004 after tests by the state's Department of Toxic Substances Control in 2003 found perchlorate in the soil.

``We had difficulty getting an agreement on when we'd get on the site, how much time we'd have once we got there and the extent to which we could do our sampling,'' Mitguard said. The company cited security concerns.

Mitguard will work with local water purveyors to determine if the pollution has reached any of their wells. Perchlorate is believed to have leeched into the groundwater from the defunct Whittaker Bermite munitions testing facility in Saugus has prompted officials to cap five municipal wells in Saugus and Valencia.

Bill Manetta, retail manager for the Santa Clarita Water Division of the Castaic Lake Water Agency, said his agency performs regular weekly, monthly and quarterly tests on its wells and no perchlorate has been detected since 2002. At that time, a well near the Saugus Speedway was shut down after it was found to contain 5.9 parts per billion of perchlorate, just below the recommended safety guideline set by the state Department of Public Health at 6 ppb. In 1997 the company shut down two wells by the fork of the Santa Clara River that registered at 47 ppb. Two more wells operated by the Valencia Water Co. also are capped.

The Santa Clarita Water Division has been working with the state Department of Health Services and the Department of Toxic Substances Control, which is the lead agency for the Whittaker Bermite cleanup operation. They check for perchlorate and other pollutants, nitrates, minerals and other substances.

``Pollution is in the general area (of NTS and Bermite.) The property line doesn't mean anything to us,'' Manetta said. ``We don't know which parcel it comes from. Our goal is to clean up the whole mess and get the wells treated so we can put them back in the system with the DTSC's approval.''

Before Golden Valley Road was built, the NTS property was contiguous with the Whittaker Bermite property. NTS is downhill from the Whittaker property, which has known perchlorate contamination. Mitguard said contaminants could possibly have migrated from the Whittaker property to NTS.

Samples will be taken on the site as well as uphill and downhill from it.

``If you have no contamination up the gradient and you (do have it) down the gradient you can deduce contamination is coming from the source you're evaluating,'' he said.

The agency is looking at another neighboring company, Hi-Shear Technology Corp., which Mitguard said seems to be storing munitions in units built into the ground. He said the agency will investigate what the company has done historically.

NTS sits on the east side of Golden Valley Road, Whittaker Bermite is on the west side of the road and a strip of Hi-Shear is contiguous with the road on the Whittaker side.

Earlier this week, Mitford said the EPA was continuing to evaluate test results generated from an investigation at the former Keysor Century plastics plant in Saugus that closed after it was found to be spewing toxic waste into the air and water.

Judy O'Rourke, [phone]

judy.orourke(at)dailynews.com