San Fernando Valley : 1,400 Owners Cleared of Leaking Pollutants

In a move hailed as a boon to business, federal officials Friday cleared more than 1,400 property and business owners once suspected of leaking chemical pollutants into ground water supplies in North Hollywood, Burbank and Glendale, a move that erases the threat of costly participation in a Superfund cleanup program.

Through soil sampling and other investigation, officials from the Environmental Protection Agency found that the parties being removed from the list were not responsible for the water contamination that has plagued the area for years.

The cost of cleaning up contaminated ground water is estimated at $300 million.