Flood Response

News stories on the flooding of the Baldwin Co.’s property at Ormond Beach have neglected to clarify the cause of the dilemma.

The flood of Ormond Beach is being caused by artificial means and is reaching dangerous proportions.

Because Port Hueneme property owners are under threat of flooding from the city’s Bubbling Springs, the Ventura County Flood Control District is diverting water from that storm drain to Oxnard’s J Street canal. From there, the water is traveling to the Oxnard Industrial drain. The confluence of these three storm drains is seriously threatening to flood Halaco Engineering’s aluminum recycling facility and has flooded the Baldwin Co.’s property at Ormond Beach.

We cannot fault the county for wanting to protect the property of the residents of Port Hueneme. We would, however, like for our neighbors throughout Ventura County to understand that we are pumping water from our property to protect it in the manner any other property owner would.

Unlike the way we are portrayed in the media, we at the Baldwin Co. respect and appreciate the endangered and populous birds and wildlife in the area and the laws that protect them. That is why we did not go in there with bulldozers and erect dams to save our property. Instead, we chose to simply pump the water back into a County Flood Control canal after deciding pumping was the least obtrusive means of defense.

We urge the Ventura County Flood Control District to continue its efforts with the state and federal agencies to alleviate this problem immediately. The deluge of water from Port Hueneme and Oxnard has to go somewhere. It only makes sense to reduce these flood waters through the available means rather than to have them continue to threaten and damage an increasing amount of private property.

LOUIS J. MALONE

Thousand Oaks

Louis J. Malone is president of the Los Angeles/Ventura Division of the Baldwin Co.