310 



not see any lights. I do not know if they are there or not. Others 

 have said they are not there. 



He said it was 85 percent farmable. I believe there is fair proof 

 that that is true. He states that there is a well on the property. He 

 states that there are some running springs on the property. And he 

 also states that there are vested water rights that go with that 

 roughly 560 acres of land. 



I quite frankly did not go any further in my own personal inves- 

 tigations. But I did contact a real estate appraiser in Reno, and one 

 in Las Vegas. Once again, described what I will say is this discrep- 

 ancy. 



And I have a letter from each of them that I will be glad to 

 submit in testimony that says that in their judgment there cannot 

 be a valid comparison between the Butler Ranch and the Coyote 

 Spring Valley property that are involved in the land exchange. The 

 size differences alone, in their judgment, are far too big. 



Separately, another document that I hope to be able to submit to 

 the committee, I would think, within a week is an actual appraisal 

 from the Butler Ranch, of the Butler Ranch property. 



I have a verbal report now by an appraiser who says he thinks it 

 was worth $400 when they paid $400 for it. He also said, he does 

 not think that has anything to do with our property. 



Senator Hecht. And you say there is a runway on the property. 



Mr. Clark. Yes, sir. But it looked like, his letter said there is a 

 lighted runway. 



I saw a photograph of the site, an aerial photograph, and it looks 

 to me like what it is is somebody took a bulldozer with a blade or a 

 scraper and scraped off the dirt. It sure did not look like it was 

 paved or anything of the kind. If there were lights, I did not see 

 them. 



Senator Hecht. One other point that I think you ought to have a 

 chance to repudiate or agree to are references made to your compa- 

 ny's activities in California and the Superfund issue out there. 



Would you care to comment on this? 



Mr. Clark. Yes, I very much would, as a matter of fact. There is 

 contamination in the ground water and and near our Sacramento 

 site. 



It was identified in 1979. Since that time my corporation has 

 spent roughly $39 million to clean that up. There has not been one 

 single penny of Superfund money spent there. 



We are in negotiations, and very near reaching a consent order 

 with the various Federal and state agencies. I think we have acted 

 in a very responsible manner in correcting problems that existed 

 because of generally accepted practices and people in business such 

 as ours. 



You will find a number of sites in the Sacramento area, which 

 have very similar problems to ours, and they are not rocket motor 

 producers like me. They are other installations. 



I believe we have been quite responsible. 



Senator Hecht. Okay. It is 5 p.m. and that is the witching hour 

 here. So we got in under the wire. 



I want to thank everyone for coming out. The record will be open 

 for two weeks. If you get home and you decide you want to put 



