Ask any of Santa Clarita’s longtime residents to name the pivotal environmental issue in their community and chances are they will say it’s the old Bermite Powder Co. plant. Thanks in part to the efforts of Carl J. Kanowsky, who was part of a team of attorneys that waged a battle to get the brownfield cleaned over more than a decade, the eyesore in the center of the city is now well on its way to being redeveloped. “I got involved when I first moved here in 1992,” said Kanowsky, whose practice is mostly focused on business transactional matters but who took up the cause of the brownfield among a number of community activities in which he’s involved. “What we were trying to do is put pressure on the original owners as well as the people they sold it to to go back to their insurance companies and convince them to pony up some dollars to clean the site. Our lawsuit was instrumental in convincing the companies to do that.” Defense-related manufacturing including artillery and other munitions, had taken place on the site going back to the Cold War and, as a result, toxins had seeped into the land and the groundwater. But because a succession of owners had operated on the site, each pointed to the other when it came time to decide who should foot the cleanup bill. Kanowsky’s interest in environmental issues also led him to work to preserve a large portion of the old Harry Carey Ranch, a historic site that dates back to the 1870s and was in danger of being torn down to make way for a housing development. “I have my family here, and my kids have graduated schools here and quality of life is important,” Kanowsky said. “So that leads to my involvement, but it’s also just good business to be seen as somebody who is out there doing the work for non-profits.” Kanowsky was a litigator until he relocated to the Santa Clarita Valley where his practice now centers on real estate and other business transactions, but he has remained true to his focus on improving quality of life for residents of the area. “There have been folks that have asked me to represent them, and I’ve talked to them about what they want me to do and told them no,” Kanowsky said. “If I know I’m going to be promoting somebody else’s project I want to make sure I can believe in it also. So the folks I’m able to represent, I have faith that, while it’s okay for them to make a profit, they’re not decimating the landscape.” His clients say that it is that commitment to the community that persuaded them to work with Kanowsky. “Mr. Kanowsky was instrumental in setting up my company, the first of its kind in the history of California,” said Christopher C. Jones, president and CEO of Dynamic Interventions Inc., which provides assessment, counseling, consultation and training services to children and families. “There were a number of attorneys that could have helped me in the endeavor. I chose Carl for one simple reason: he is invested in our success and the positive impact we have on the community.” Shelly Garcia