Pipeline project will remove contaminates before they reach drinking supply.

[view:node_ad=5]Portions of Valencia Blvd., between Magic Mountain Parkway and Bouquet Canyon Rd., will be closed for approximately two months, as the Castaic Lake Water Agency(CLWA) moves into another phase of their Pipeline Construction Project.

 

This Project, originally scheduled for August 11th, has been delayed and is now set to begin in the end of August. CLWA’s Pipeline Project is necessary to clean up Perchlorate contamination from the groundwater.  The closure will affect both east and westbound traffic, from 7:30 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. Monday through Friday. Approximately four alternate routes will be offered to motorists.

 

The contamination is a result of the Perchlorate, which is used in solid propellant for rockets, missiles, fireworks and explosives, seeping into the local groundwater aquifer from the former Bermite site. The Bermite site, that was located east of San Fernando Road, stopped operations in 1987. The Bermite site was used for approximately eighty years as a military flare and munitions manufacturing facility. As a result of these manufacturing operations, the site is contaminated with various chemical compounds, including perchlorates.

 

Extensive clean-up of the site and groundwater is needed to reduce risk to public health and safety and to allow the site to be reused in the future. CLWA’s Pipeline Project will remove perchlorate from the groundwater to meet drinking water standards and will prevent perchlorate from migrating further from the site. The Castaic Lake Water Agency will do this by installing a pipeline that will transport contaminated groundwater to a facility that will clean the water.

 

More detailed information about the clean-up project can be accessed on the CLWA’s website at www.clwa.org and additional notices will be given to residents prior to the initiation of the next phase of the Pipeline project.