The latest soil, sediment, and water testing in the area around a toxic waste site in Ventura County confirms pollution levels which pose a risk to wildlife in an adjacent nature preserve.
The Environmental Protection Agency has completed the third in its series of reports as part of its efforts to assess the threat from the old Halaco metal recycling facility in Oxnard, near Ormond Beach.
The tests show high concentrations of metals, and organic pollutants in sediments passing through the Oxnard Industrial Drain area, as well as in the Ormond Beach Lagoon.
The study says the pollution poses a risk to wildlife that might ingest the sediments, or prey from the vicinity, but that the levels aren’t high enough to threaten humans who occasionally use the area. The EPA is planning to conduct a final round of tests later this month, to provide the information needed for a cleanup plan.
The Halaco site has been identified as a federal “Superfund” site, which means the problem is severe enough that it made a national priority list of sites for cleanup.
