Mysterious odor and noise troubling to some Port Hueneme residents

A mysteriously bad odor and terrible noises are causing heightened concerns for several residents living in Port Hueneme. Some residents want to know if the odor they’re forced to breathe in is cause for concern.

“There are a few different smells,” said John Ortiz, who has lived at Surfside condominiums for 20 years. “Most of the time it smells like a strong split pea soup smell, and then there is a chemical smell that sometimes burns the inside of your nose. Sometimes it’s during the day, and sometimes it wakes you up in the middle of the night.”

Many residents believe the odor is coming from the Oxnard wastewater treatment plant located directly behind the complex.

“The waste treatment plant is aging,” said Greg Boyajian, who has lived at Surfside complex since 2017. “It was built in 1955 and has long outlived its youthfulness, and it needs to be rebuilt.”

“Since moving here in July I noticed a more intense chemical smell coming from the same direction,” said Lori Shockley, who is also a resident there. “The smell causes me to want to close up my home and I began to become a little more concerned on what we are smelling. Are these chemicals? And how is this affecting my children?”

Residents here also say it’s not just an odor issue, they’re also subjected to loud noises coming from the same location.

“The noises are heard all day and all night, sometimes 24 to 48 hours at a time,” said Boyajian. “So we are getting noise pollution and air pollution.”

Back in October the city of Oxnard held a community meeting discussing these issues, but residents say no solution has been found.

“Right over this fence right here behind us is Oxnard, and right here where we are standing is Port Hueneme so Oxnard is pretty much polluting on us and really just dragging their feet and not doing anything about it,” said Boyajian.

We reached out to the City of Oxnard but they were not available to comment.