[CPEO-MEF] No red flags in probe of factory site

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No red flags in probe of factory site
Progress encourages officials
By Heather MacDonald
Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- City officials are encouraged by the progress Cherokee
Investment Partners has made in its investigation of soil and water
pollution at the defunct Bermite munitions factory.

One of the nation's largest and most experienced brown-field remediation
companies, Raleigh, N.C.-based Cherokee is considering whether to
finalize its purchase of the 996-acre site off Soledad Canyon Road.

"It's a complicated site, but so far we've come across no red flags,"
said Cherokee Managing Director Dwight Stenseth.

Cherokee representatives met Friday with officials from the Department
of Toxic Substances Control, the state agency overseeing the clean up of
the site in the center of Santa Clarita, to gather information about the
contamination left over from three decades worth of munitions
manufacturing.

"We're trying to introduce ourselves and determine whether we can all
work together to clean this site up," Stenseth said.

Representatives from the real estate investment firm have also met
informally with Mayor Frank Ferry and Planning Director Jeff Lambert,
who have both vowed to thoroughly investigate the company in order to
ensure the project doesn't grind to a halt as it did under the current
owner, Remediation Financial Inc.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E20949%257E951502,00.html

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