Soil Near Recycling Plant May Be Tested : Environment: Oxnard is concerned that leaking chemicals from the Ormond Beach facility are contaminating nearby wetlands.

As part of a $1-million restoration project, the city of Oxnard may conduct soil tests to determine whether an aluminum recycling plant is leaking dangerous chemicals into the wetlands at Ormond Beach.

Redevelopment Director Steven Kinney said the restoration project probably will include soil testing around the Halaco aluminum recycling plant in the 6200 block of Perkins Road.

The City Council approved the $1-million project in June when it adopted the 1990-91 budget. The council will discuss the project and the soil-testing proposal sometime in the next three weeks, Kinney said.

If testing shows that Halaco has contaminated the adjacent wetlands, the council will be asked to direct a cleanup project, Kinney said.

Councilwoman Dorothy Maron said Friday that she would support soil testing and the removal of the recycling plant from the site.

“Anything to move that thing,” she said, referring to Halaco.

For years, Halaco has been the target of criticism by local environmentalists, who believe that chemicals from the plant are leaking into the wetlands, which are home to hundreds of species of birds and fish.

The recycling plant includes a huge settling pond, which has spawned unsuccessful lawsuits by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the California Coastal Commission and Ventura County.

However, none of the investigations preceding the lawsuits determined whether the plant endangers the wetlands, Kinney said.

Halaco Plant Manager Dave Gable said the plant, which melts down about a billion aluminum cans a year, complies with every requirement of state and federal environmental agencies.

“We’re an environmentally healthful group,” he said.

Nonetheless, news that testing is being considered elicited cheers from environmentalists.

“I’m very happy,” said Jean Harris, an Oxnard resident and member of Ormond Beach Observers, a group dedicated to the restoration of the area. “I think that is a real positive move.”

Roma Armbrust, a Ventura resident who heads the group, said the Ormond Beach Observers requested such studies about a year ago.

“Since we made such an effort already, we therefore would definitely support soil testing,” she said.

Kinney said he is not sure how much the testing would cost, but said the council will be asked to hire a private firm to outline the necessary work needed to restore the area, which has been the home for several industrial uses over the years.

Some of the money would go toward restoring a portion of wetlands near Arnold Road that has been devastated by off-road vehicles, he said.

The purpose of the testing is to determine once and for all whether Halaco poses a danger to the wetlands, Kinney said.

Much of the Halaco controversy surrounds its settling pond, where the plant dumps the byproducts of the recycling process, including dirt and aluminum oxide.

Halaco’s Gable said the settling pond was built on top of a huge deposit of clayey soil, which helps keep liquids in the pond from leaking. But even if there were a leak, Gable said that aluminum oxide is not harmful.

“It comprises a major component of the earth’s crust,” he said. “So we are not putting anything new in there.”

However, Wayne Ferren, a biologist at UC Santa Barbara, said aluminum oxide is not completely safe.

“Certain types of lead can be associated with aluminum,” said Ferren, who has directed several field trips through the wetlands at Ormond.

Ferren said he is happy to hear that Oxnard is considering testing near Halaco, which he called “the worst use of coastal habitat that I’ve ever seen.”

Ferren oversees a saltwater reserve in Carpinteria and said development has eliminated almost all of the wetlands in Southern California.

He said testing near Halaco will put to rest many unanswered questions, and he suggested that the city also test “animal tissue to determine whether there is a possible contamination entering the food chain.”