Meeting Set for Tonight on Old Lockheed Plant

BURBANK —  Despite uncertainty over the agenda and the moderator, a community meeting will take place tonight on residents’ concerns about contamination from an old Lockheed Martin Corp. facility.

City officials promised to schedule the session last summer after hundreds of residents complained about being left out of a deal under which Lockheed agreed to pay $60 million to more than 1,300 current or former city residents who complained about the old Skunk Works plant near their homes.

It is billed as an informational session expected to attract representatives from Lockheed and environmental agencies.

But as late as Tuesday night, city officials were asking the City Council for guidance since moderator and environmental lawyer Benjamin Kaufman was too ill to participate.

“We have a problem,” said City Manager Robert R. Ovrom, who later added, “We could find somebody. We could still make a meaningful meeting happen.”

The city long ago had been turned down by retired Judge John K. Trotter, who mediated the secret deal between the aerospace giant and the 1,300-plus residents.

On Wednesday, it looked as though another lawyer from Kaufman’s firm would fill in as moderator.

City officials said their goal is to provide updates on environmental matters and pending litigation regarding Lockheed. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at John Burroughs High School, 1920 Clark Ave.

A city attorney told the council months ago that the city would have no legal standing to pursue action against Lockheed on behalf of residents. Council members agreed then to try to help residents in any way they could.

Tonight’s meeting, several said, is a way of keeping their word.

“We’re not parties to the lawsuits, but we do feel a moral obligation to protect our residents,” said Councilman Ted McConkey.

Hundreds of residents blame Lockheed for alleged health problems and declining property values they attribute to the now-closed facility’s discharge of carcinogens and other hazardous substances into the ground, air and water.

Patrick J. Grannan, the lead lawyer in the first of several lawsuits filed by residents after the secret deal became public, said more than 1,000 people have contacted the firm with complaints about Lockheed.

The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, medical monitoring and other relief, remains in its early stages, he said.

“So far [Lockheed is] making noises like they’re going to fight,” he said. “It’s a process that will take awhile, but we still believe it’s a good case.”

Representatives for Lockheed Martin have said repeatedly that the plant, which closed in 1990, posed no health risks.

Maureen Curow, a spokeswoman for Lockheed, said the company would have representatives at the meeting, although any comments would be limited.

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Curow said Lockheed remains under a confidentiality agreement regarding the initial settlement. Although the company confirmed that Trotter in September ordered some of the $60-million settlement withheld pending a review of how the deal was leaked to the media, it could not yet comment further, she said.

“The release of the remainder of the funds is subject to the confidentiality agreement,” she said. “We are not at liberty to discuss it.”

Neither Trotter nor David Casselman, the lawyer representing the residents in the confidential agreement, returned telephone calls.

Michael Signorelli, who lives nearby on Cohasset Street, said he and others remain concerned about ongoing cleanup at old Lockheed sites.

“My goal is to enlighten people on what’s going on,” said Signorelli, a member of Concerned Citizens of the San Fernando Valley Basin. “Money comes secondary to my health.”