A South Coast city has pushed back the deadline for homeless people to vacate a hazardous waste site where they have been living, to try to give them more time to find a place to go.
People living at the old Halaco metal recycling site in Oxnard had been given until December 5th to move by authorities, or face arrest. The Oxnard City Council agreed this week to push the date to December 15th, to give them more time to find shelter.
There are dozens of campsites at the toxic waste dump, as well as a number of people living in vehicles. Oxnard officials say aside from the obvious health risks, police and paramedics have been called to the unauthorized campground on a regular basis for everything from carjackings to a murder. The city has allocated up to $400,000 to clear the site, and remove trash and vehicles.
