Airport Gets Access but Lockheed Keeps Land

A Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner Tuesday rejected the Burbank Airport Authority’s attempt to take immediate possession of a 130-acre site for a larger passenger terminal, but granted the authority access for appraisal and environmental testing.

The ruling grants the authority immediate access to the property, a triangular parcel north of the existing airport terminal, which it is seeking to acquire from Lockheed Martin Corp. through condemnation. Purchase offers so far have fallen far short of Lockheed’s $100-million asking price.

Court Commissioner Bruce Mitchell said access to the land would allow the authority to perform environmental tests and come up with a credible estimate of the cost of cleaning up pollution on the site, long used for aircraft manufacturing involving strong chemicals.

Both sides expressed satisfaction with the ruling.

“This allows us to bring our own environmental experts onto the land and conduct our own appraisal,” said Victor J. Gill, an airport spokesman. “In the past, Lockheed would not allow us . . . to perform our own estimates, and we were forced to rely on very vague data provided by Lockheed.”

Maureen Curow, a spokeswoman for Lockheed, said the court decision supports the company’s position that airport officials are offering too little money. “Lockheed Martin is pleased with the court’s decision that the amount offered is not adequate,” she said. “We will review any subsequent offers.”

Earlier this month, the Airport Authority--with Burbank commissioners dissenting--voted to invoke its eminent domain powers to condemn the land. The move came after a yearlong dispute with the aerospace firm over the cash value of the parcel, which airport officials say should be reduced to take into account the cost of cleaning up decades of soil contamination.

The airport recently offered $3 million--$39 million to cover the land’s appraised value, minus $36 million in estimated cleanup costs. In reply, Lockheed asked $100 million, airport officials said.

Attorneys for Lockheed argued in court Tuesday that the airport’s appraised value for the parcel is too low and the site can be cleaned up for only $1 million.

After soil tests are performed, the Airport Authority can renew its request for a court order granting the airport possession of the property.

The amount the airport will pay Lockheed for the land is expected to be determined by a jury at a condemnation trial, airport officials said.

In another matter, Lockheed has sued ITT Industries Inc., Zero Corp. and Philips Electronics North America Corp. in a dispute over the cost of cleaning up ground water contamination in the southeastern San Fernando Valley.

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The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, is on behalf of Lockheed and other Burbank-area businesses who believe that companies located in Glendale should be held more responsible than others for ground water contamination originating from that city.

Curow said Lockheed believes that the three companies named as defendants in the lawsuit are the largest contributors to two plumes of ground water contamination originating in Glendale.

For the past several years, hundreds of firms in the area have been investigated by local and federal officials for possible involvement in polluting ground water with solvents and other dangerous chemicals. A massive federal Superfund cleanup project includes sites in North Hollywood, Burbank and Glendale.

Hernandez is a Times staff writer and Ryfle is a correspondent.