Ormond Beach: The beautiful problem FOR THE LAST 17 YEARS, Walter Fuller has spent most of his days in his informal office in a steel hipping container that is outfitted with shelves for birding books and official reports, a desk and a couch, and is situated at the western end of Oxnard's Arnold Road. This is the gateway to the south side of Ormond Beach, a sandy expanse well-known to surfers and birders and an astonishing variety of coastal wildlife, but little-known to the outside world. Fuller loves birds and animals of all sorts, and once considered a career in the Forest Service, but in his maturity he has found his own kind of peace as the informal gatekeeper and watchman for the area, protecting both the cars of visitors who park in the ormond-sunset-600x450.jpglot, and the birds — including two endangered species — who live out in the dunes nearby. "I'm the gatekeeper at one spot, and the property caretaker for the area, and it's a big property!" he laughs, referring to the roughly two-mile stretch of white sand and dunes between Port Hueneme to the north and the Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu, to the south. — Ventura County Reporter – 20120126

The Ultralights Are Back! Seven years ago we legally chased them away One would think that any pilot would do all s/he can do to avoid 25 pound birds — collisions between any plane and them bode ill for both! In any event, low flying aircraft are prohibited from flying anywhere along our coastline. If you should see ultralights or hang gliders there, please call Ventura County Airport Authority at 805-388-4202 or Camarillo Airport Operations, 388-4497 (after hours at 805-947-6803). These aircraft take off from Camarillo Airport so good descriptions of the craft really help!

New EPA report says old city burn dump lies under contaminated Halaco site There's a new twist in the long-running saga of the Halaco Superfund site in south Oxnard. An old municipal burn dump is buried beneath waste from the former metals recycling plant, according to a new government report. Few people today, including city employees, remember the burn dump, which operated in the 1940s and 1950s, said Wayne Praskins, a Superfund program manager with the Environmental Protection Agency in San Francisco. The burn dump waste is completely buried by other material, Praskins said, which answers one key question about whether it poses a health risk. — Ventura County Star – 201108311758

EDC and clients sue City of Oxnard Protecting Ormond Beach Wetlands from development The Environmental Defense Center, the Sierra Club, and the Environmental Coalition filed a lawsuit against the City of Oxnard today disputing the City's decision that new residential, commercial and industrial development at Ormond Beach will not harm sensitive wetlands or the State's plan to restore the area. On June 14, the City approved the first of two major developments targeted for the Ormond Beach "Specific Plan" area. The SouthShore Project, a primarily residential development with over 1500 housing units, will pave over a vast open space area that currently protects the wetlands from existing urban development. The second development project (not yet approved by the City) would similarly convert an open space area to commercial and light industrial development, and limit the size of the California State Coastal Conservancy's planned wetland restoration. The City evaluated the potential environmental impacts of both projects in one Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The environmental groups assert that the City's EIR and approval of the SouthShore Project violated the California Environmental Quality Act and State Planning and Zoning law. "Ormond Beach is a vitally important habitat area," said Mike Stubblefield of Los Padres Sierra Club. "These wetlands support numerous rare plants and wildlife, including over 200 species of migratory birds, and the City has failed to carry out its job to make sure this area will be protected from the development." Learn more about Ormond Beach or get more information on the lawsuit here. — EDC – 20110728     — Environmental groups sue to stop SouthShore development in Oxnard — VCS – 201107381942

Halaco contamination spreads to wetlands The Environmental Protection Agency reported Thursday it has found contamination to wetlands neighboring the defunct Halaco metals recycling plant, a Superfund cleanup site in Oxnard.     While the agency wasn't completely surprised by a study that showed pollution was spreading from the site — mostly from lead, zinc and other metals — the findings might complicate cleanup plans.     The wetlands are home to several rare and endangered species.     "It's significant enough that we expect we'll need some clean up in locations adjacent to the Halaco properties," said Wayne Praskins, EPA's project manager for the 40-acre Superfund site.     The Halaco property was contaminated by decades of industrial recycling of metals. When the business shut down and filed bankruptcy, it left behind a massive heap f waste that was laden with heavy metals and trace amounts of radioactive thorium. Halaco Superfund Site: EPA testing results for sediments in the Oxnard Industrial Drain and lagoon near the former Halaco facility in Oxnard, California, June 9, 2011

Plans for Ormond Beach, wetlands lack cohesion A bureaucratic bog Carpeted with sod farms that border aging industrial buildings, a creaky power plant and the Halaco Superfund cleanup site, Ormond Beach is a world away from the clean streets of Copenhagen. But the debate surrounding climate change and rising sea levels at the United Nations summit over the past two weeks might have more bearing on this corner of Oxnard than anywhere else in Ventura County. With the land rising to no more than about a dozen feet above sea level in some spots, the area is vulnerable to the most conservative state estimates of a 4-foot rise in ocean levels over the next 100 years. "It's not a matter of if," said local activist Larry Godwin. "It's a matter of how fast and how high." — Ventura County Star – 200912191755

HARBOR WANTS ORMOND BEACH From an e-mail sent by Ormond Beach activists Shirley and Larry Godwin — At the end of the Ormond Beach Task Force meeting today (Nov 19) we finally heard from Anthony Taormina, Executive Director of the Harbor District, what he and others at the Harbor District didn't want to tell us. This is what he said: The 33 acres [33 acres left of the 38-acre proposed Gateway Park site] is zoned light industrial, and the harbor will take it and any other zoned light industrial land at Ormond. The Harbor District will not buy or develop the land but will have that done by companies that do business with the Harbor. This will be done with or without a harbor overlay. Aren't dictatorial, government-sponsored and authorized tax-collecting entities, nice? So much for democracy in our own nation! Oxnard sees no direct benefit from the Harbor District.

Photos courtesy Alan Sanders What's the Fuss? The Vision News Calendar Maps The Editor's Observations Links   Photo by Roger Pariseau This pair of trumpeter swans has been seen at Ormond Beach and at the estuary of the Santa Clara River and the ocean. All birds opportunist- ically feed where the pickings are easiest. During both sites of their migrations, others of their kind note each other's condition and will follow the healthiest to wherever they opt to migrate. As our local "greenies" have more and more success in making Ormond Beach Wetlands and the Santa Clara River more hospitable, more and more species are attracted to these areas. Why haven't our political leaders been opportunistic themselves and promoted our avian advantage to effect? Ventura County is home to more than 450 different bird species, some 291 in ZIP 93030 alone! Of Ventura County's 19 species of endangered or threatened birds, 17 have been seen at Ormond Beach.	Since the founding of our nation, the area now containing the State of California has lost 91% of its wetlands. Here in Oxnard we personally experience the harm done with our "years of the spiders, the flies and the gnats" — Some bird species that normally visit us skipped those years, or were driven away from overcrowding by other species. As we continue to overpopulate our state, it is imperative that we restore what wetlands we can. If we fail, we do so at our children's and their children's peril. These pages try to explain and to prove that assertion. Fuller's Report — Special Birds Seen At Ormond Beach: Northern Fulmar, California Condor (reported seen feeding on a seal carcass), Snowy Plovers, Semipalmated Plovers, Virginia Rail, Peregrine Falcon, White Ibis, Egrets, Great Blue Heron, Black Rail, Western Grebe, Surf Scoters, Black Phoebe, Loggerhead Shrike, Belted Kingfisher, Black Crowned Herons (seen arguing with each other), Red Tailed Hawks, Trumpeter Swans!, White-Tailed Kites, Bald Eagle Fledgling! (seen fishing in the drain between the Perkins Rd. parking lot and the wetlands), three (3!) Golden Plovers, Eared Grebes, Indigo Bunting, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, and Ruddy Ground Dove. The last three were seen by Auduboners at Ormond Beach and are firsts in these parts. Also, on June 14, an informal count at Ormond netted 31 Snowy Plover nests and 48 Least Tern nests.
ORMOND VIDEOS   RIGHT CLICK on the following links to download new videos   explaining the importance of Oxnard's Ormond Beach Wetlands:    — ORMOND: Wetland Wonderland [WMV, 139 MB] —    — Presentation to Planning Commission [WMV, 20 MB] —   (These files will NOT stream on-line — at least not for long!)
NATURE AT WORK This colorful pair of Yellow Headed Blackbirds represent just one of the hundreds of bird species that visit Ormond Beach every year. This Spring has seen Bald Eagles and White Pelicans stirring the air around Egrets and Great Blue Herons, Ibises and Avocets along with all manner of smaller water birds. Ormond Beach's wetlands and adjacent upland areas breed tens of thousands of birds every year. In turn, the avians consume many of the insects that otherwise would be pestering us. Why is this? Birds! Ventura County is home to more than 460 different bird species. More than 300 species visit Ormond Beach. In turn, all those birds consume the insects that would otherwise be pestering us at night. Let's preserve Ormond Beach and our bird sanctuaries! — HALACO History and Superfund Site — — EPA: Toxic Waste Found of Halaco Site; Removal Action Planned — — EPA Halaco Fact Sheet — — EPA Hoja Informativa de Halaco — — THE HALACO FILES — Ventura County Star — — Rejuvenated Bolsa Chica wetlands flourishing — — Threatened Birds in Ventura County — — Bird Count at Ormond Beach – Video – Story — VCS — — KCLU News Ormond Beach Story, Oct. 13, 2005 [mp3 audio file - 6 min.] — [ Home | Fuss | Vision | News | Calendar | Maps | Commentary | Links ]