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Development Threatens Ormond Beach
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 Where
is Ormond Beach? Fewer than 10 percent of California's wetlands remain.
One of the most important -- and threatened -- is Ormond Beach, located
in Ventura County halfway between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara.
What threatens Ormond Beach? There is a land-rush frenzy by developers
to carve off bits and pieces of Ormond Beach. Much of the 1,400-acre site
is degraded by industrial development and government neglect. But the
area can be restored -- and you can help.
 The
Ormond Beach saga is as much about restoring blighted industrial sites
as it is preventing future development.
Historically, Ormond Beach was the dumping ground for industrial development
that the City and County of Ventura did not want to see anywhere else.
The worst example of this development is the Halaco Engineering Company,
a metal processor that has operated there for more than 30 years.
In the course of its operations, it has built on the wetland a 40-f00t-high
pile of more than 400,000 cubic feet of solid waste, or 1.5 billion pounds
of pollution.
The Halaco operation has dumped effluent onto the Wetlands, has potentially
contaminated ground water and has caused severe air pollution. Until last
year, governmental enforcement of environmental requirements has been
halting and ineffective largely due to Halaco's litigious response to
any challenge. Thanks to the Santa Barbara ChannelKeeper, environmentalists
have now taken legal action to stop Halaco from continuing to pollute
the wetlands.
The ChannelKeeper filed suit and spurred the California Regional Water
Quality Control Board to take regulatory action. After agreeing to a long
term clean up plan with the board, Halaco filed for bankruptcy.
The latest development is the filing this month of a civil action by the
Ventura District Attorney and State Attorney General accusing Halaco of
violating California law by flushing oil into settling ponds and unauthorized
burning resulting in air pollution.
How You Can Help
Halaco Engineering Company and other industrial development is a serious
threat to the Ormond Beach Wetlands. Please help save this great coastal
place from development and pollution. The
California Coastal Conservancy is offering to buy 309 acres of the
Ormond Beach Wetlands from the City of Oxnard. But they need your help.
Please write a letter to:
Mayor Manuel Lopez
300 W. 3rd Street
Oxnard, CA 93030
Tell Mayor Lopez that the negotiations regarding sale of the 309 acres
of wetlands to the California Coastal Conservancy should be made open
to the public. Tell him the City should get serious about selling the
Wetlands to the Conservancy at a reasonable price. Tell the Mayor that
the Ormond Beach Wetlands is no place for industrial development and that
this beautiful coastal place should be protected for our generation and
for future generations to enjoy.
Photos courtesy Alan Sanders.
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