Lockheed reports new way to cut Burbank emissions.

But its use would delay development of ex-HQ site

Lockheed Corp. executives last week told the Burbank City Council that they have discovered a way to cut emissions by 75 percent from their planned system to clean toxics from the property they've vacated near the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport.

However, use of the new system, plus delays due to the government approval process, will postpone for another couple years development of some of the land.

Stephen E. Chaudet, vice president of public affairs for Lockheed, said the "vapor extraction system" the company proposed earlier would have emitted 40 pounds per day of volative organic compounds (VOCs) into the air and taken seven years to clean the soil. The new system will emit less than 10 pounds of VOCs and take eight-and-a-half years, he said.

"This looks encouraging," said Councilman Dave Golonski. "But you'll have to forgive me if I don't jump up and down and wholeheartedly endorse your proposal. ... We need to look at the mix of VOCs."

Both Golonski and Councilwoman Susan Spanos indicated they are less concerned with the pounds of VOCs emitted than with which chemicals are released, how likely they are to cause cancer, and what the health risk is when combined with chemicals already in the air.

Health risks assessed

Lockheed executives said they should have a new health risk assessment report ready by Dec. 27, which will be passed along to city consultants studying the project. The city has hired Dames & Moore and the Peartree Group to study the VES proposal.

The Lockheed site is about 90 acres and is bordered by Victory Place to the east, Empire Avenue to the north, Buena Vista Street to the west and railroad tracks to the south.

About 10 acres will be the subject of an intense toxic clean-up. Those same 10 acres are tentatively slated for development of a retail power center, to be built by Homart Development Co. of Chicago. Lockheed manufactured planes on the site from 1928 to 1991.

The VES would be mostly underground, with a 50-foot-high smokestack emiting some chemicals into the air. The majority of chemicals would be cleaned from the soil using a carbon absorber filter system.

Using the 40 pounds per day figure, the VES was estimated to carry a cancer risk of 9 in a million, including the risk from perchlorethylene (PCE).

This figure was not acceptable to neighboring homeowners, who hired an attorney to fight the project.

Contaminants cleaned twice

Chaudet said the new system will process a smaller number of contaminants per day and will reinject 70 percent of the contaminants it collects for a second cleaning. Also, the carbon filters will be changed more often than previously planned, he said.

Chaudet said the new system will add $2 million to the project's $61 million price tag. Also, the company has agreed to pay for an independent company to monitor its system while it's in operation.

"Any further delay risks groundwater contamination and delays putting this property to productive use," Chaudet said.

Lockheed Vice President of Operations Bill Sorenson noted that 14,140 pounds of VOCs are emitted daily in the City of Burbank -- 9,180 of those from mobile sources.

The typical gas station, said Sorenson, emits eight pounds per day.

He added that one company in Burbank has the "potential" to emit more than 100 pounds per day of VOCs, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District. He wouldn't name the company, and an AQMD spokeswoman was unable to obtain the information at press time.