The Halaco Files

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For the past six months, the abandoned Halaco smelting plant near Oxnard's Ormond beach has bustled with trucks and people as federal regulators study the contamination on the property.

And yet, on Monday, when federal officials visited a nearby strip mall to warn the mostly Spanish-speaking merchants and customers about the dangers of the Halaco site, most people they met had no idea a waste pile existed there.

"We really hadn't heard about it at all," said Nataly De La Cerda, 18, who was at her mother's clothing store when three men from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency came in with a stack of fliers on Halaco.

The EPA's main message: Keep out.

"As long as people stay off of the site, they're not in any danger," said Wayne Praskins, a project manager with the EPA's Superfund program.

The Halaco property is littered with dangers, from radioactive debris and heavy metals that could cause cancer to crumbling buildings that could be a hazard for adventurous children.

The debris was piled high by Halaco Engineering Co., which operated the metal recycling plant for 40 years before it filed for bankruptcy and closed in 2004.

Since then, the site has become a magnet for graffiti vandals and other trespassers.

Fresh graffiti appears regularly, and there are signs that people have been riding all-terrain vehicles near the slag pile.

The EPA, which has taken over the cleanup, put a locked gate on the property and asked the developers who own most of the land to hire security guards to patrol the area. The developers agreed and the patrols should start soon, Praskins said.

On Monday, Praskins and two other EPA officials made their first tour of the shopping centers closest to the Halaco site: a pair of strip malls at the corner of Hueneme and Perkins roads.

Both are filled with stores and restaurants that cater to south Oxnard's Spanish-speaking residents.

Jose Francisco Garcia, an EPA community involvement coordinator, spoke to the shopkeepers in Spanish about the Halaco site, and he left stacks of fliers for their customers.

"It seemed like it was all new information to them," he said as he wrapped up his hourlong tour. "They said they worry about their kids, and they don't want their kids playing there, so they know about it now."

The city of Oxnard has already handed out about 3,000 fliers on Halaco, and the EPA has a mailing list that includes about 130 people who have signed up for detailed information on the cleanup.

Monday's door-to-door effort was the EPA's first attempt to spread the word among the Spanish-speaking people who live and work near the abandoned smelting plant.