MEINERS OAKS : Residents Complain About Well Drilling

Angry Meiners Oaks residents are upset the county allowed a well-drilling rig to operate 24 hours a day in the Ventura River. Some say it not only disturbed their sleep but could threaten their water supply.

“It makes me angry. I have to keep my windows closed and put cotton in my ears,” said Patsy Glenn, who lives on El Camino Corto. “I’d like to know how they got a permit to drill only 500 feet from Meiners Oaks’ wells.”

Glenn is one of more than a dozen customers of Meiners Oaks County Water Co. who complained to the water company Tuesday about the constant pounding that began Thursday, company secretary Helen Ortman said.

“It’s not us,” Ortman said. “We just tell them to call the county.”

Ventura County hydrologists, building officials and code enforcement officers said drilling permits do not restrict hours of operation, and there are few county laws regulating noise. Residents who called the Sheriff’s Department to complain were told that deputies could not cite the drillers for disturbing the peace because they have a permit to drill.

The permit was issued to Farmont Corp.--which wants to build a golf course near Lake Casitas--to drill a backup well to irrigate 120 acres of citrus trees and provide water for cattle on the former Rancho Matilija.

“We certainly do apologize to the community,” said Albert Bergesen, assistant to Farmont President Maurice Stans in Pasadena. “No one told us it was bothering anyone. It’s routine for well drilling to go ‘round the clock.”

Bergesen said the drilling, to about 200 feet, was expected to be completed early this morning.

Contrary to concerns voiced by Meiners Oaks water company directors and attorneys, Farmont’s officers said the new well should not decrease output at the utility’s nearby wells, which provide drinking water to 1,200 customers.