GROUNDWATER CLEANUP STARTS NEW VESSELS TO FILTER CHEMICAL REMNANTS FROM PLANT.

Byline: Eugene Tong Staff Writer

VALENCIA - Nearly two decades after the Whittaker-Bermite munitions testing plant closed, chemical remnants that have fouled the local groundwater supply finally are being cleaned up.

Valencia Water Co., taking the lead in treating contaminated water found recently in one of its wells, cut the ribbon on two filter vessels last week. They will pull perchlorate, a salt used in weapons manufacturing, from a shallow alluvial well near the intersection of Bouquet Canyon and Soledad Canyon roads.

``We are committed to ensuring that our drinking water is safe, that it is reliable and that it meets the highest standards of water quality set by the EPA and the California Department of Health Services,'' said Bob DiPrimio, president of Valencia Water. The utility owned by investors who also own half of The Newhall Land and Farming Company serves about 94,000 and pipes water to future subdivisions.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said the chemical in large doses can interfere with thyroid function. The state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment deemed water with as much as 6 parts per billion safe to drink.

Tests conducted in March and April found the well dubbed Q2 contained perchlorate levels of seven to 11 parts per billion. A resin inside the treatment tanks bonds with the salt through ion exchange to cut that down to about four parts per billion, officials said.

The tanks installed by US Filter can treat 2,400 gallons of water per minute, and are installed at contaminated sites throughout Southern California, including the San Gabriel Valley. Whittaker-Bermite's insurers contributed $500,000 to the treatment.

``The same technology has been used at numerous locations throughout California and is recognized by DHS as one of the best available technologies for removing perchlorate from water,'' DiPrimio said.

The vessels are part of a larger cleanup plan from the Castaic Lake Water Agency, the region's state water wholesaler, to remove perchlorate from local groundwater supplies. Since contamination was discovered on the Whittaker-Bermite property in 1997, six wells including Q2 have been capped - four of them tap into the deep Saugus Aquifer, a prime water storage spot for this parched valley.

The CLWA's estimated $15.3 million two-step program includes expanded treatment and drilling three replacement wells. It is expected to begin in 2006, officials said.

Meanwhile, attorneys for CLWA and the city of Santa Clarita are twisting a cleanup settlement from Whittaker-Bermite's current owners and insurers. A detailed plan released Nov. 15 - some six months after the parties agreed to settled - is under review.

``We've been waiting and we had to crank up the litigation again,'' said Fred Fudacz, an attorney representing the CLWA. ``We obviously don't have a settlement at this point. We're hopping this agreement will provide a basis for a settlement for our client.''

The city also is anxious for a final settlement - it will allow development at the bankrupted company's 996-acre property off Soledad Canyon Road in the heart of Santa Clarita. The case is under review by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Arizona, where current owner Remediation Financial Inc. is based.

Irvine-based SunCal Co. - currently planning a 3,900-home subdivision in Castaic; the Lewis Group, which has projects in California and Nevada; and North Carolina-based Cherokee Investment Partners are eyeing the property.

``We're looking at progress being made on this problem,'' Santa Clarita city councilman and local real estate agent Bob Kellar said at the event. ``We are going to get this problem fixed for this community.

``The day is going to come when those thousand acres (will be developed).''

The Whittaker-Bermite site was used to test small rockets and missiles for nearly 50 years. Weapons manufacturing ended in 1987, but it contaminated the property with various chemical compounds, including perchlorate, heavy metals and solvents - some of which have migrated into the Santa Clarita Valley's groundwater supply.

Eugene Tong, [phone]

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Keith Abercrombie, vice president of Valencia Water Co., describes how the new filtration system operates to remove perchlorate.

(2) An aerial map shows the sites of contaminated wells in the Santa Clarita Valley, as well as water-treatment locations.

(3 -- 4) At left, a diagram shows how the filtration works; below, clean water leaves the system along Bouquet Canyon Road.

David Crane/Staff Photographer