(FORTUNE Magazine) – BEAUMONT, CALIFORNIA -- Cleanup of toxic wastes at the old Lockheed . . . rocket-testing site south of Beaumont has been delayed about a year while plans are hammered out for dealing with the federally protected Stephens kangaroo rat. It is believed to be the first time the kangaroo rat, which is listed by federal officials as an endangered species and has held up construction in wide areas of the county, has delayed the cleanup of an environmental hazard . . . U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials want Lockheed to submit a plan for protecting the animal before ((the agency)) will sign off on the cleanup work . . . Steve Goodbred, environmental contaminants specialist for the . . . Fish and Wildlife Service in Laguna Niguel, said his agency is ''very aware and sensitive to the fact that we have two environmental issues at odds'' . . . Options include trapping a number of the rats and relocating them to other suitable habitats, he said. -- From a news report in the Riverside (California) Press-Enterprise.