Since 1965, Halaco Engineering Company operated a scrap metal salvage facility located adjacent to the Ormond Beach wetland in Oxnard. The facility melted millions of pounds of magnesium and aluminum into ingots for use in manufacturing and die-casting, and discharged over one million gallons of contaminated wastewater from its smelting operations into unlined settling ponds every month. The wastewater was contaminated with copper, lead and other heavy metals, ammonia, and several radioactive isotopes. Solids that settled out of the wastewater were piled onto a slag heap that grew to tower 40 feet above the wetland.

According to the Regional Water Quality Control Board, the slag heap emitted ammonia and radioactive elements such as thorium and uranium-238. The unlined ponds leaked contaminated wastewater into the wetland, the ocean, and groundwater. The Ventura County Air Pollution Control District found significant cancer and chronic health risks from Halaco's air emissions, which were violating the Clean Air Act. The District received hundreds of complaints from community members who suffered headaches, sore throats and other ailments from the fumes emitted by Halaco.

The company had been cited repeatedly by regulatory agencies for releasing carcinogens into the air, leaking contaminated water into the nearby wetland, and dumping radioactive material into the slag heap. In 1980, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determined that Halaco was violating the Clean Water Act by, among other things, discharging waste to the Ormond Beach Wetlands. However, Halaco continually failed to develop appropriate compliance plans and delayed installation of less polluting technology and practices.

In January 2001, Channelkeeper and the Environmental Defense Center (EDC) stepped in and filed lawsuits against Halaco in state and federal court in an effort to force Halaco to clean up its mess. Halaco tried everything to evade our lawsuit, including attempting to have our suit dismissed, filing a bogus trespass lawsuit against Channelkeeper's Executive Director, and filing for bankruptcy. These efforts failed to deter us.

Then the regulatory agencies jumped on the bandwagon. In February 2002, the Regional Water Board issued a Cease and Desist Order prohibiting Halaco from discharging any more wastewater and requiring them to remove all existing wastewater contained in the settling ponds. In October 2002, the Ventura County District Attorney and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control filed a complaint against Halaco in state court for illegally burning hazardous waste and dumping it into settling ponds that leaked into the ocean. In April 2003, the District Attorney also filed criminal charges against Halaco for unlawful emissions of air pollutants.

After years of haggling, Halaco finally agreed to a settlement with Channelkeeper and EDC, under which Halaco was required to cease discharging contaminated wastewater to the settling ponds and to stop adding solid waste to the slag heap. The settlement also required Halaco to install measures to ensure that polluted stormwater did not run off the site and to install air pollution monitoring and control technology. Halaco was also required to remove a portion of the waste pile over a 30-year period, or else pay up to $500,000 into a fund to be used for environmental enhancement efforts in the area. The settlement agreement further required Halaco to pay $50,000 for a consultant to monitor the company's compliance and to submit to random sampling of its air emissions.

The latter point proved to be Halaco's death knell. Random air emissions testing conducted in April and September 2004 revealed that the notorious polluter was violating its probation by exceeding the limits of its air pollution permit.  Because the company was in bankruptcy, it could not afford to take the measures necessary to come back into compliance with its permit, and Halaco was forced to permanently cease operating in September 2004. While this was a major victory for the community as well as the Ormond Beach Wetland in that Halaco would no longer continue to actively pollute the air and water, its legacy unfortunately lives on in the 40-foot high, 15-acre mountain of toxic slag Halaco built up over the years.

Fortunately, in June 2006 the federal EPA finally stepped in to remove some of the most immediate environmental threats and conduct an in-depth assessment of the contamination at the site. EPA’s Emergency Response Section took hundreds of soil samples from the waste pile, smelter site and surrounding neighborhoods, as well as sediment, groundwater, surface water, air and fish tissue samples at the site and within the estuary. They also analyzed sand at Ormond Beach as well as offshore sandbars for radioactive isotopes in order to determine if contamination has migrated offshore. At that time, EPA also removed all drums and other containers of hazardous substances, consolidated loose waste material, secured the property with fencing and signage, and took other steps to improve site security and stabilize on-site waste. 

EPA's sampling has confirmed that there is indeed contamination at the Halaco facility, at both the smelter and waste pile. Compounds found include aluminum, arsenic, barium, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, magnesium, manganese, nickel, silver, zinc, cesium-137, potassium-40, thorium-228, thorium-230 and thorium-232. EPA also found evidence that wastes from the Halaco facility have moved into the adjacent beach and wetlands, sediments in the adjacent Oxnard Industrial Drain, and underlying groundwater. Limited sampling in a nearby residential area did not show elevated levels of site contaminants.

The US EPA has issued an Integrated Assessment Report outlining the findings of their site investigation and the need for additional short- and long-term response actions to address environmental and human health risks posed by the site. To view the report and other related documents, go to www.epa.gov/region9/waste/sfund/superfundsites.html then click on Site Overviews, then Halaco.

Based on their findings, EPA recommended that the site be added to the Superfund National Priorities List, which is reserved for the nation's highest priority hazardous waste sites. That listing was approved in September 2007.

In February 2007, EPA began additional work to stabilize and secure the property and limit the offsite migration of contaminated wastes. They regraded the massive waste pile to reduce the steepness of its slopes, placed matting on the slopes to reduce erosion, stabilized the banks along the lower portion of the Oxnard Industrial Drain, constructed berms around some smelter buildings to keep remaining waste materials inside the buildings, made improvements to better manage stormwater runoff, and improved site security. Later in 2007, EPA began conducting a study of surface water and groundwater movement at and near the site to better determine the extent and movement of Halaco's wastes. EPA is also beginning assessments of human health and environmental risks posed by site contamination. The results of these studies, part of the "Remedial Investigation" of the site, are expected in late 2008.

In July 2008, EPA released its Community Involvement Plan for the Halaco site clean-up, one of the required steps under the Superfund process. The Plan was based on 27 interviews they conducted with various community members and stakeholders, including Channelkeeper, earlier in 2008. The Plan describes the community concerns voiced at these interviews, identifies objectives for involving the community at the Site, and proposes community outreach activities to help EPA meet these objectives. It explains how EPA will provide opportunities for public participation in site decision making as well as timely information about the site investigation, clean-up plans and activities. It lays out the next steps in the process - mid-investigation reporting and development of clean-up alternatives (late 2008/ 2009); completion of Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (to be determined); Record of Decision (TBD); and Remedial Design and Remedial Action (TBD) - and describes actions it will take at each step to inform and involve the community. Channelkeeper will continue to follow and weigh in throughout the lengthy Superfund process to ensure a full and timely clean-up of the Halaco site. 

Finally, Channelkeeper at long last reached a final settlement with the previous and current owners of the Halaco property, and secured in our legal agreement a requirement that the current and future property owners must comply with California's General Industrial Stormwater Permit. This Permit requires requires facility operators to eliminate unauthorized non-storm water discharges; develop and implement a storm water pollution prevention plan (SWPPP); and perform monitoring of storm water discharges. It further requires facility owners to implement Best Management Practices to prevent the discharge of polluted storm water from the site.