Problem-Plagued Bermite Plant Is Sold; Will Be Dismantled, Closed

A 1,000-acre site occupied by a financially troubled military explosives manufacturer in the Santa Clarita Valley has been sold for an undisclosed price, according to company officials.

The sale of the Bermite complex, a site for pyrotechnics manufacturing since 1906, is to be closed within 30 days, according to Robert Murray, a spokesman for Bermite’s parent company, the Los Angeles-based Whittaker Corp.

The transaction finally shuts an enterprise that in recent years has been plagued with accidental explosions, hazardous-waste disposal problems and a deteriorating market. As many as 600 employees once worked in reinforced buildings at Bermite, Murray said, but a skeleton crew of only about 30 remains. Buildings once used for the mixture of explosive chemicals and the construction of pyrotechnic devices are being dismantled.

Buyer Identified

Murray identified the property’s buyer as Three L Industries, a company that owns several Los Angeles-area office buildings.

Attempts Monday to locate that company were unsuccessful. No company representatives had yet contacted the office of Mike Antonovich, the Los Angeles County supervisor whose jurisdiction includes the Santa Clarita Valley, according to Antonovich aide JoAnne Darcy.

“Normally, I’d meet these people,” she said. “Most companies would approach this office.”

George Malone, an official with the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission, said he hadn’t heard from--or of--Three L either. The company would have to consult Malone’s office on any new use of the land, which fronts on busy Soledad Canyon Road and adjoins a shopping center and the Saugus Speedway.

The property is one of the larger tracts of developable land in the booming Santa Clarita Valley, Malone said. Los Angeles County planners foresee the valley’s population more than doubling by the year 2000, from 103,00 to 213,000.

Demand Dwindles

The Whittaker Corp. announced its intent to close Bermite last July, citing dwindling demand for the plant’s products and the increasing value of Santa Clarita land.

“The volume of business--say, during the Vietnam conflict and, before that, during the Korean War--simply wasn’t there,” Murray said. The plant formulated propellants for rocket motors, high-temperature flares to act as decoys for heat-seeking missiles and other explosive mechanisms for military devices.

Murray said Bermite’s remaining contracts have been transferred to another Whittaker company, Holex, in Hollister, Calif. Holex manufactures quick-release devices for military helicopters hauling heavy loads, parachute-release devices and other assemblies dependent on “one-time-acting and highly reliable” explosives.

A key Bermite production complex was destroyed in an explosion in July, 1985. The blast caused damage estimated at $500,000. Two workers were seriously burned in separate accidents in the two months before that, and another accidental explosion occurred in March, 1985.

Bermite also was under pressure from the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which opposed the plant’s open burning of explosive waste.

Whittaker spokesman Murray said company officials know of no hazardous or toxic substances remaining on the property.