Toxic metals from Superfund site endangers wetlands in Ventura County
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced that an old metal recycling plant in Oxnard, California, now a federal Superfund site, was leaking lead, zinc, and other dangerous chemicals into nearby wetlands; when the plant closed, it left nearly 700,000 cubic yards of unattended waste laden with heavy metals and small amounts of radioactive thorium; high costs have hindered cleanup efforts and local residents have become frustrated with the drawn out efforts; the wetlands that are endangered by the old metal recycling plant are located in Ormand Beach and are home to several rare and endangered species
Ormond Beach in Ventura county // Source: beforeourveryeyes.com
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced that an old metal recycling plant in Oxnard, California, now a federal Superfund site, was leaking lead, zinc, and other dangerous chemicals into nearby wetlands.
According to the EPA the widening area of contamination will complicate the cleanup process and will require the EPA to expand the Superfund site to nearby areas. The forty acre recycling plant was owned and operated by Halco, but was shut down in 2004 after the company filed for bankruptcy. The plant mostly recycled aluminum and magnesium, and while it was operational frequently received complaints about pollution from its smoke stack and waste water.
After operating for more than forty years, the plant produced a mountain of 700,000 cubic yards of waste. When the plant closed, it left this stockpile of unattended waste laden with heavy metals and small amounts of radioactive thorium.
The EPA took over the site in 2006, and in 2007 it was declared a Superfund cleanup site.
High costs have hindered cleanup efforts and local residents have become frustrated with the drawn out efforts.
In an interview in 2009, Jim Hensley, the deputy director of the League of United Latin American Citizens in Oxnard, said, “People are stalling, and they stalled so long in shutting it down. We want it cleaned up.”
The EPA estimates that it would cost nearly $100 million to haul the dangerous waste away.
Oxnard city officials have also struggled with tearing down the old structures on the site as the cost of demolishing the buildings is about $500,000, and dealing with the disposal of hazardous materials could cost more than double.
