The Whittaker-Bermite site cleanup of the soil has been reportedly completed after over a decade, officials said Tuesday.

The 996-acre plot next to the Metrolink station on Soledad Canyon Road in the hills behind the Saugus Swap Meet was used in part for a munitions factory in the first half of the last century, leaving decades worth of contaminants in the soil and groundwater.

“This a significant milestone,” said James Chow, senior planner for the City of Santa Clarita. “There still is some backfilling needed in some areas and the groundwater cleanup could still take some time.”

Cleanup for the groundwater beneath the property could still take 20 or more years to complete, according to City of Santa Clarita officials.

The Contamination

After half a century of explosives testing, the property was deemed unsuitable for general use due to contamination of several substances.

From 1934 to 1987, the Whittaker-Bermite Corporation manufactured, stored and tested explosives, including ammunition rounds, flares, detonators, signal cartridges and pyrophoric pellets, according to SCV History.

“There are two major contaminants,” said Jose Diaz, senior project manager with the California Department of Toxic Substances Control.

The chemicals of concern include perchlorate and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which seeped into the ground during the decades of operation in the area, according to Diaz.

In 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decided that perchlorate meets the Safe Drinking Water Act criteria for regulation as a contaminant, as the agency found that perchlorate may have an adverse effect on people’s health and is known to occur in public drinking water systems at levels that present a public health concern.

Since first detected in groundwater wells in the Santa Clarita Valley in 1997, the predecessors to the new SCV Water have worked with state, environmental and health regulators to address the perchlorate problem.

VOCs are organic chemicals that easily turn to vapors or gases, which are released from burning fuel such as coal, gasoline or natural gas, according to the EPA.

The Cleanup

The site clean-up is under the supervision of the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC). DTSC officials issued an order to Whittaker Corporation to perform site clean-up.

The property has been divided into seven “operable units” with differing clean-up strategies for each unit, according to Diaz.

“The cleanup efforts are focused both above and below the ground, with a water treatment plant on the site,” said Diaz.

There are different strategies for the chemicals in question.

Perchlorate was “eaten” out of the soil by a process adding acetic acid and other nutrients to the soil, allowing bacteria to grow.

“It is almost like composting,” Diaz said. “The bacteria needs oxygen to grow, so they will take it out of the perchlorate, therefore changing the chemical structure.”

As the bacteria become oxygen-starved, it breaks down the perchlorate to use its oxygen molecules. This process neutralizes the chemical, according to Diaz.

VOCs evaporate quickly, making it a challenge to clear from the soil.

“We have to make sure these chemicals don’t get into the air,” Diaz explained. “There are large blooms of these chemicals under the ground.”

The volatile chemicals are cleared out with activated charcoal and other filters to ensure the soil is containment free, according to Diaz.

The Next Steps

There is a formal report which needs to be filed by the Whittaker-Bermite Corporation to finalize the soil cleanup before any developments can be proposed, according to City officials.

“There are several potential uses for the property,” Chow said. “There is a plan, passed in 1995, which allows certain developments, but there could be another one proposed as well.”

In May of 1995, the Santa Clarita City Council approved the Porta Bella Specific Plan and accompanying development agreement, creating vested land use entitlements on the property.

These entitlements allow for the development of 1,244 single-family residential units and 1,667 multi-family residential units, as well as 96 acres of commercial and business/office park uses, according to City officials.

The plan also envisions 407 acres of open space and 42 acres of recreational use.

Department of Toxic Substances Control officials want to ensure any potential developers and the public that the agency’s work is still not done.

“We are not going away,” said Diaz. “The department is going to be there for years to come.”

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