Residents Press Navy for More Data on Emissions

OXNARD —  Complaining that a classified report released by the Navy last week fails to conclusively answer questions of whether Oxnard-area beach residents are being subjected to hazardous radiation emissions, local activists and community leaders are lobbying top Navy officials to release additional data.

Vickie Finan, a Channel Islands Beach Community Services board member, sent a letter to Secretary of the Navy John H. Dalton--who is scheduled to visit Ventura County’s military facilities on Wednesday--asking for his help in releasing information on the potential hazards a Navy radar testing facility may pose to the general public.

“I am hopeful your review will result in the immediate release of this data,” stated Finan in her letter dated Jan. 19. “This would address community concern, allay fear, and help to provide an atmosphere of trust between our valued Navy facilities and the adjacent communities.”

Navy officials were unavailable for comment Monday because of Martin Luther King Day.

The Surface Warfare Engineering Facility, which is used as a radar testing facility, became the target of local activists who fought last year against a Navy plan to fly jets directly above their homes.

At the time, residents and the California Coastal Commission demanded answers regarding any possible radiation dangers from the facility, which is adjacent to the mouth of Port Hueneme Harbor and down the coast from Silver Strand Beach.

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The Navy’s confidential study, conducted in October, said that there may be hazardous radiation levels within the borders of the Navy property but no emissions that would endanger nearby residents, beach visitors or passing ships.

But the report released to the public does not provide detailed information on the radiation levels. Two portions of the report--Appendixes D and E, which provide the specific emission results--were not released.

Finan said residents want an independent source to review the data to determine whether there is a hazard to the neighborhood. The radiation issue will be discussed at a Channel Islands Beach Community board meeting Jan. 28.

Residents had hoped October’s study would answer their concerns, unlike radiation studies conducted in 1989 and 1994.

“We have been trying to have them answer the question: ‘Does it present a hazard or doesn’t it?’ ” said resident Lee Quaintance, a member of the ad hoc residents activist group BEACON. “After all of this gnashing of teeth, they present a report that begs the question.”