The site, at 833 Sonora Ave., is the former location of Loral Librascope, which used chromium 6 in the manufacturing process for electronic and combat weapons systems between 1949 and the 1990s, according to the EPA.
When Lockheed Martin acquired the company as part of a merger in 1996, it assumed the liability of the chromium contamination, and as part of the federal consent agreement, will be required to cover the cost of the investigation and any cleanup effort, Fitzgerald said.
Environmental officials do not know the extent of the contamination, except for the discovery of the toxic element in the groundwater below the site, he added.
Chromium 6, or hexavalent chromium, has been shown to cause lung cancer when inhaled. The National Institutes of Health last year found that it also produces cancer in lab animals that drink contaminated water.
“Lockheed Martin has been working very closely with the EPA on this,” Lockheed spokeswoman Gail Rymer said, adding that her company would be “as diligent and aggressive as possible in addressing the issue.”
While Lockheed Martin has assumed responsibility for any contamination through the federal agreement, it no longer controls the parcel, of which 90% is owned by the Walt Disney Co. The property is next to the company’s Grand Central Creative Campus.
Lockheed has already secured access through Disney to perform the necessary drilling for soil cores and other samples, but is still negotiating with the private owner of the remaining 10% of the parcel to gain complete access, Rymer said.
She would not reveal the private owner’s identity because of ongoing negotiations. Disney is listed as the only owner of the property.
