[CPEO-BIF] "Whittaker Can Bill Feds for Bermite Cleanup Costs, " Santa Clarita, California

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Appeals Court: Whittaker Can Bill Feds for Bermite Cleanup Costs


Courthouse News Service
June 13, 2016

A defense contractor responsible for cleaning up pollution at a facility where most munitions manufacturing
was done under contracts with the U.S. military can seek cost recovery from the government, the Ninth Circuit ruled
Monday.

Whittaker Corporation manufactured and tested munitions for the government at a facility in Santa Clarita, Calif., for
20 years, according to court records. The site was previously owned by the Bermite Powder Company.

Between 1954, when Bermite was in charge, until 1987, when Whittaker ceased operations at the site, about 90
percent of the munitions manufacturing and testing at the site was done under contracts with the U.S. military.
In 2000, the Castaic Lake Water Agency and other providers who pumped water out of ground wells near the
Bermite site filed a lawsuit against Whittaker under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation
and Liability Act, or CERCLA. They claimed that Whittaker’s operations had contaminated their water supplies with a
pollutant called perchlorate and other hazardous chemicals.

…

For the entire article, see
http://scvnews.com/2016/06/13/appeals-court-feds-on-hook-to-cover-bermite-cleanup-costs/

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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