Halaco Engineering Company ran a secondary metal smelter in Oxnard, California from 1965 to 2004, processing aluminum, magnesium, and zinc from scrap metal. The site sits on the National Priorities List (NPL), a federal register of the country's most serious contaminated sites. About 850,000 cubic yards of waste sit in an on-site waste management area, and another 50,000 cubic yards were spread as fill on the 11-acre smelter property. The contamination includes high levels of metals, and some waste contains radioactive thorium and radium. Pollution has reached adjacent land owned by the city of Oxnard and the Nature Conservancy, including parts of the Ormond Beach wetlands, one of Southern California's last remaining coastal wetlands and a habitat for several endangered or threatened species.
EPA carried out removal actions between 2006 and 2010 to stabilize the site. Those actions included removing hazardous substances, installing fencing and erosion controls, re-grading waste piles, and demolishing unstable buildings. A thorough remedial investigation ran from 2009 to 2015, testing soil, groundwater, surface water, sediment, and wildlife to map the spread of contamination and gauge risks to human health and the environment. Fencing around the Perkins Road property was added in July 2018, with repairs continuing after that.
EPA is weighing three cleanup approaches for contaminated soils and sediments: capping waste in place, transporting it to a licensed off-site facility, or using it as a partial substitute for Portland cement in ready-mix concrete. Testing of that last option ran from early 2018 through mid-2019. A cleanup proposal for soils and sediments is expected in 2025. The site is divided into operable units (OUs), which are distinct zones that can be cleaned up on separate schedules. The adjacent properties OU has a Record of Decision (ROD, the formal cleanup decision document) expected by late 2026, with actual cleanup work estimated to start by early 2028. The ROD for the overall site OU is estimated for mid-2028.
The California Department of Public Health found in 2009 that dust-generating activities such as dirt bike riding and digging in soil raise the risk of breathing in or accidentally swallowing contaminated material. Human exposure control and groundwater migration control both have insufficient data, meaning assessments cannot yet confirm whether exposures are fully under control.
Community members can get involved when EPA releases its Feasibility Study and Proposed Plan for the eastern wetlands area. A 60-day public comment period will follow, and a formal public meeting will be held roughly three weeks after the documents are released. The meeting will be recorded and posted online. EPA will notify nearby residents and publish announcements in the local paper before the documents come out. For questions, contact the EPA Community Involvement Coordinator or the Remedial Project Manager.
