[CPEO-MEF] City delays accord update

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California
City delays accord update
Action could derail sale of 996 acres
By Heather MacDonald
Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- The City Council has put off deciding whether the
current owners of the defunct Bermite explosives factory failed to meet
the terms of the 2,911-home Porta Bella development agreement.

The council members agreed this week that any action could complicate
the sale of the polluted property in the center of Santa Clarita to a
North Carolina firm that is considering purchasing the land. The council
is scheduled to review the matter again Feb. 25.

"It wouldn't hurt to allow recent developments to be taken into
consideration," said Mayor Frank Ferry.

Cherokee Investment Partners, one of the nation's most experienced
remediation companies, has met with both Santa Clarita and officials
from the Department of Toxic Substances Control, the state agency
overseeing the cleanup.

The property near Soledad Canyon Road is contaminated with several dozen
toxic chemicals and unexploded ordnance waste left over from decades of
weapons manufacturing for the U.S. military. The groundwater beneath the
site is contaminated with perchlorate, a byproduct of rocket fuel that
has been linked to thyroid disease.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E20949%257E1019135,00.html

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