Greed Behind Problems at Oxnard Dunes, Jury Is Told : Trial: During closing arguments in long-running lawsuit, attorney for home buyers says the city and developer knew an oil waste dump lurked under the site.

A housing developer and the city of Oxnard knew that an abandoned oil waste dump lurked underneath the Oxnard Dunes development, but they neglected to warn home buyers because of greed, an attorney for three families said Monday.

Attorney Lawrence M. Schulner’s remarks came during closing arguments in the complex four-month trial over the families’ lawsuit, which was filed after the discovery of a toxic dump under the 100-home development nine years ago.

The three families are seeking unspecified damages from the developer, the city of Oxnard, a former landowner and numerous other defendants.

At one time, 175 residents joined in the lawsuit in Ventura County Superior Court. All but the three remaining families agreed to an undisclosed out-of-court settlement last year.

The subdivision--off Harbor Boulevard about 1 1/2 miles north of Channel Islands Harbor--was used as a dump for oil field waste during the 1950s. The developer started selling lots there in 1964, and most of the homes were built in the late 1970s and early ‘80s.

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After the remnants of the dump were discovered, state health officials conducted tests over five years and concluded in 1990 that the site posed no health hazard to residents. Tests found no dangerous levels of contaminants in the soil, water or air.

Schulner, however, told the jury that the land is contaminated with the toxin barium, which he described as poisonous but not cancer-causing. He accused the state of “burying its head in the sand.”

“This issue of barium looms larger and larger for me,” he said.

Schulner’s arguments are scheduled to continue today. An attorney for the developer, Oxnard Shores Co., is expected to present the defense argument Wednesday. In past statements, the company has denied any wrongdoing.

Schulner is trying to persuade the jury in Judge Melinda A. Johnson’s courtroom that Fred Marlow, an agent for the developer, intentionally concealed the history of the land from the people who bought lots and eventually built homes there.

Schulner said Marlow, who bought the property for Oxnard Shores in 1959, covered up the waste on the property by pouring sand over it. That ploy, he argued, kept residents from discovering the dump for more than two decades.

The city of Oxnard also was aware of the problem with the Dunes before lots were sold, Schulner told the jury. The city chose not to intervene because it stood to collect significant tax revenues from the development, Schulner said.

Oxnard city officials on Monday declined to respond to Schulner’s charges. City Atty. Gary Gillig said that as part of the settlement agreement with the other families in the lawsuit, the city agreed to a gag order until the case is resolved.

Marlow, now in his 90s, could not be reached for comment Monday.

Schulner pointed to more than 500 documents that he said help prove that private and public officials were aware of the problems at the Dunes.

He started with a transcript of a deposition by Marlow, who testified that he bought and sold the Dunes property sight unseen 35 years ago.

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But that is unlikely, Schulner said. He portrayed Marlow, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as a sophisticated real estate developer who would have known better than to buy property without taking a firsthand look.

“This is a man who understood every nuance of real estate, every nuance of subdividing,” Schulner said. “He has a background that just won’t quit. . . . He left (the waste) there because it was cheaper to do it that way.”

Two of the plaintiffs in the case, Steven Blanchard and Linda Paxton, sat at the table with Schulner as he presented his arguments. Those plaintiffs, along with Mary and Paul Null, have lost all the value of their property since the history of Oxnard Dunes was disclosed, Schulner said.

And while the Paxtons and Blanchards moved out of their homes three years ago and quit paying their mortgages, their banks have not foreclosed on them, Schulner said.

“It is contaminated just enough that the lenders and the public don’t want any part of it,” the attorney said.