WHITTAKER AGREES TO CLEANUP EX-OWNER OF BERMITE FACTORY MEETS FIRST OF MANY DEADLINES.Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer SANTA CLARITA Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, - The former owner of the defunct Bermite 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. factory has agreed to begin cleaning up the polluted site after state officials threatened to take the company to court. Whittaker Corp. met the first deadline set by the state Department of Toxic Substances Control, which ordered the company to begin hiring the personnel needed to clean up dozens of poisonous chemicals and unexploded ordnance "UXO" redirects here. For the cancelled video game, see . Unexploded ordnance (or UXOs/UXBs, sometimes acronymized as UO) are explosive weapons (bombs, bullets, shells, grenades, land mines, naval mines, etc. waste left over from decades of explosives manufacturing. ``They've started the process, but there are many more deadlines to meet,'' said Sara Amir, the chief of the Southern California Cleanup Operations branch of the DTSC DTSC Department of Toxic Substances Control DTSC DARCOM Technical Steering Committee . ``The real tests are yet to come.'' Eric Lardiere, general counsel for Simi Valley-based Whittaker, did not return a phone call Wednesday. However, earlier this week, he declined to comment on the issue. The DTSC's action comes nearly 20 years after Whittaker ceased building and testing weapons for the U.S. military on the 996-acre site in the center of the city. Santa Clarita officials have been pushing state officials to start an in-depth study to determine what toxic chemicals are present on the hilly property and to clean up four known ``hot spots'' of contamination that officials believe are polluting the area's groundwater with perchlorate perchlorate: see chlorate. , a by-product by·prod·uct or by-prod·uct n. 1. Something produced in the making of something else. 2. A secondary result; a side effect. by-product Noun 1. of rocket fuel linked to thyroid disease thyroid disease Thyroid disorder Endocrinology Any benign or malignant condition that affects the structure or function of the thyroid gland. See Anaplastic carcinoma of thyroid, Chronic thyroiditis–Hashimoto's disease, Hyperthyroidism, Hypoparathyroidism, . Local officials have praised the DTSC's action as a way to get the site's soil and the water beneath cleaned up to the highest standard as quickly as possible, although they express skepticism about Whittaker's commitment to the cleanup. ``Whittaker's track record is certainly not encouraging,'' said Senior Planner Lisa Hardy. It is unclear whether the DTSC's action will complicate the sale of the site to Cherokee Investment Partners, a Raleigh, N.C.,-based real estate investment firm interested in buying the property. Company officials have said that Cherokee would be unlikely to purchase a piece of property being cleaned by another firm. Some city officials believe the city's best chance of cleaning up the property's soil and water hinges on a quick sale of the site to a company with the resources and motivation to clean and develop the property, such as Cherokee. Other officials favor suing Whittaker and its insurance companies to force them to cover the cost of the cleanup. |
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