By Christina Zubko
In 2019, Friends of Ormond Beach organized to bring awareness to the wetlands and to assess the impacts of human activities.
Camping, lighting fires, interfering with protected habitat areas, altering sand dunes, and operating motorized vehicles—all prohibited activities under Oxnard city ordinance 2906—were commonplace. But the city, county and state agencies paused their enforcement of wildlife protection laws, leaving it to volunteers.
Much has changed in four years. Public awareness increased and Friends of Ormond Beach teamed up with Ventura County Surfrider, Coastal Keepers, and the city of Port Hueneme to make a difference.
Below is a review of the challenges and the progress that have occurred since 2019.
People and Trash
People who visit the beach and lagoon areas sometimes camp there, don’t respect signs asking for no littering and the like. Trash remains one of the biggest threats to the wetlands, and the bulk of it comes from people and from illegal dumping. After scores of cleanups by hundreds of dedicated volunteers since 2019, Surfrider estimates that over 38 tons of trash have been removed. The 12 atmospheric rivers this winter exacerbated the trash problem for the Ormond Lagoon, which is the terminal point for three local waterways. Trash that originated from sources upstream were ultimately discharged into the Lagoon and some into the ocean. Unfortunately, at least a ton of trash remains in the wetlands area, but because the snowy plover nesting season began in March, the cleanups have stopped for now.
EPA and Halaco
The fate of the Halaco Superfund site is closer to being decided. In Sept. 2022, the EPA held a community meeting to discuss the risk assessment of remediation. Currently, the EPA is conducting a feasibility study to determine the best way to remediate the site, and the remedy will be selected sometime between July and September 2024. Coincidentally, since 2019, there have been four different EPA managers for the Halaco Superfund site.
The Plan and Turnover
The three partners--State Coastal Conservancy (SCC), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and the city of Oxnard--completed phase one of the Ormond Beach Restoration and Access Plan (OBRAP). The phase, consisting of restoration planning, design and stakeholder outreach, was completed in June 2020. Check out the plan: https://tinyurl.com/OrmondPlan2020 The $1 million grant awarded to TNC in 2021 has helped fund phase two of the project: restoration site preparation, habitat protection, and community engagement, scheduled to occur at least until December 2024. Recently, two of the three partners experienced leadership turnover as both Chris Kroll of the SCC and Isidro Figueroa of the city of Oxnard retired.
Federal Management
The three partners recommended an agency to manage Ormond Beach permanently: US Fish and Wildlife Services. Specifically, the So Cal Urban Wildlife Refuge Program aligns with the vision of the OBRAP to grant access to the wetlands and to protect its sensitive environment. A federal land manager comes with funding mechanisms and authority to enforce environmental protection laws and it can also engage with the EPA during the remediation process. This federal entity would also satisfy the 2008 goal of the Environmental Defense Center to find permanent protection for Ormond Beach wetlands. While this recommendation seems promising, it is the first step in a lengthy approval process. The next step is for the three partners to hold their public town hall meeting on April 24 6-8pm at the South Oxnard Center (200 E. Bard Road, Oxnard, CA. 93033). The public is encouraged to attend to learn more and offer input.
Four Years from Now
Friends of Ormond Beach hope that four years from now the OBRAP will be near completion, the Halaco Superfund site will be close to being fully remediated, and US Fish and Wildlife Services will be managing all the human activities in the wetlands. Until then, the Friends, like all those great stewards who came before them, will continue to advocate for the protection of the wetlands and be forever grateful to all the organizations and their volunteers who made a difference in the last four years.
Editor’s note: To learn more about the Ormond Beach and wetlands issues, the public is invited to a town hall meeting, April 24 from 6-8pm at the South Oxnard Center, 200 E. Bard Road, Oxnard. This article brings you up to date and the future awaits. The author is co-founder of Friends of Ormond Beach, and any opinions are hers.
Follow @friendsoformondbeach on Instagram or contact them via email: saveormondbeach2019@gmail.com