[CPEO-MEF] Builders, City Clash Over Hidden Threat

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Builders, City Clash Over Hidden Threat
Santa Clarita: Cleanup of former weapons site remains explosive issue as
suburbs creep closer.

By RICHARD FAUSSET, TIMES STAFF WRITER

The owners of 1,000 undeveloped acres in the heart of fast-growing Santa
Clarita once dreamed of blanketing the land with middle-class houses.

But after three years of clashing with city officials about how best to
clean up the area, the developer, Santa Clarita LLC, is ready to unload
it.

The site, like hundreds of others around the country, was once used to
manufacture and test military-grade weapons. It is littered with
contaminants, and there is a slight chance that those may include live
shells and projectiles, state environmental officials say.

"People who have lived around here a long time can remember seeing the
explosions there," said Jeffrey Lambert, Santa Clarita's planning
director. "There's a real fear of what could be on that property."

As suburbs like Santa Clarita continue to encroach upon land previously
used as munitions factories and military bases, officials say, more
homeowners are likely to confront the possibility that weapons of war
may be buried in their backyards.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-me-bombs12sep12.story

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