Providing Community Solutions
 With heritage operations dating back to the early 20th century, Lockheed Martin has built its success on long-standing innovation and business excellence as well as strategic acquisitions. Some of the operations conducted over the years, even though in compliance with relevant laws at the time, resulted in soil or groundwater contamination. Where remedial actions are warranted, Lockheed Martin has worked aggressively with regulatory agencies and the community to remedy the impact of the contamination. Some of our accomplishments are summarized below.
Lockheed Martin began remediating a portion of its former Potrero site in Riverside County, Calif., several years ago and currently is conducting a comprehensive environmental investigation to determine if additional remediation is necessary. A portion of the 9,100-acre property was used for rocket motor testing in the 1960s and ‘70s. This site also is the home to threatened and endangered species. The Corporation and The Conservation Fund partnered with Riverside County, the State of California, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to create a conservation area that is considered the crown jewel of Riverside County's Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan. The Corporation sold the property to the state and the county for a reduced price to create the conservation area.
Historical airplane manufacturing operations at the former Burbank, Calif., facility resulted in groundwater contamination in the San Fernando Valley. Working under a Consent Decree with the U.S. EPA, Lockheed Martin, in cooperation with the City of Burbank, constructed a 9,000 gallon per minute water treatment system that now supplies the city with 50 percent of its water requirements. Lockheed Martin also contributed to the construction of a similar facility in Glendale, Calif.
The offsite groundwater treatment system associated with a former operating facility in Great Neck, N.Y., went into normal operations this year, treating more than 500 gallons per minute. Construction and testing of the newly operational treatment system began in 2004. This system complements a similar groundwater treatment plant that has been operating at the former facility since 2002. Two new monitoring wells also were constructed at the leading edge of the groundwater plume to provide advance warning of potential impacts to nearby public water supply wells and to help define the leading edge of the groundwater plume.
At a heritage site in Middle River, Md., where Lockheed Martin operates an assembly plant, leases another facility and has sold other parcels of land, the Corporation over the past several years has collected thousands of samples from about 300 soil, 150 groundwater and 80 creek locations. Chemicals known to have been used during former industrial operations (including solvents, petroleum, metals and polychlorinated biphenyls) were detected, but the chemicals present in the environment at the site do not pose health risks to employees, visitors or residents in the community. Committed to being a good corporate citizen, Lockheed Martin has entered into the Maryland Department of the Environment’s Voluntary Cleanup Program (VCP), which will ensure the health and safety of future site users as well as protect the environment. The Corporation also is conducting environmental investigations on the Martin State Airport property under Maryland’s Superfund program.
During a due diligence assessment conducted in 2000 to support Lockheed Martin’s sale of the former American Beryllium Company (ABC) property in Tallevast, Fla., volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were identified in shallow groundwater beneath former concrete sumps located on-site at the eastern portion of the facility. Working with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Lockheed Martin received approval to implement an interim remedial measure groundwater pump and treat system at the former ABC facility. The third site assessment has been completed and submitted to the state. The assessment indicates that groundwater in the vicinity of the site is impacted with VOCs and 1,4-dioxane. These impacts cover an area of approximately 200 acres and extend below ground surface approximately 200 feet. Lockheed Martin made a medical program and a property value guarantee program available to residents in the vicinity of the site. The medical program provides free examinations to residents and former employees. The property value guarantee provides gap payments to residents and property owners wishing to sell their property if they are unable to get full market value due to the groundwater contamination in the area
The above highlights a small fraction of our ongoing environmental remediation projects. Lockheed Martin will continue to work aggressively with regulatory agencies and the community to remedy the impact of historical contamination where remedial action is warranted.
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