Former rocket test site in Norco is sold

A San Diego developer has purchased a 430-acre site in Norco that has a history of of environmental problems attached to it.

Lansing Companies bought the property for an undisclosed amount from Calcerf LLC, a consortium of six national banks, said Greg Lansing, the development company’s president and chief executive officer.

Both parties closed the sale at the end of December. The transaction was announced one week ago.

The site, near the crossing of Intestate 15 and the 91 Freeway, was once used by El Segundo-based Wyle Laboratories for rocket testing. Wyle Laboratories provides engineering and technological services to governmental entities including NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense.

While Wyle Laboratories admitted to using some toxic chemicals at the site, it denied causing any contamination that was potentially dangerous to residents.

Tests by the California Department of Toxic Substance Control, however, found trichloroethylene, a cancer-causing agent, at levels 128 times higher than the state’s limit for drinking water, according a report published in 2002 by the Los Angeles Times.

Riverside County Health officials also found hydrazine, a rocket fuel once used by Wyle Laboratories, in two wells on the site, according to the report.

Twelve years later, both the department of toxic substance control and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have pronounced 80 percent of site cleaned up, enough to make it safe for development while the rest of the site is being accounted for, Lansing said.

Officials with Lansing Cos. are scheduled to meet with Norco officials next week to discuss possible projects for the site, Lansing said.

“It’s a big site, and we really don’t have any idea what will go there,” Lansing said. “We want to get as much community input as we can.”