Mr. MACK. When Port Hueneme was taken over by the Government, what did they pay for it?

Colonel ALLEN. $2 million, I think, is the amount the Navy paid to the city of Oxnard.

Mr. NEAL. Do you think the proposed short jetties will completely eliminate the tendency of this sand to drift out into the ocean rather than to deposit? In other words, do you think it will stop all the erosion that is going on there now?

Colonel ALLEN. It is felt that the construction of these short jetties, in combination with the offshore breakwater and dredging of this catch basin to 30 feet will provide a means by which this material will be trapped and periodically moved to the shore beyond the two harbors.

Mr. ANGELL. Any further questions from members of the committee? If not, thank you, Colonel.

We will now hear from our colleague, Congressman Bramblett. STATEMENT OF HON. ERNEST K. BRAMBLETT, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. BRAMBLETT. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I have spent many, many hours in this area and I am very familiar particularly with this area in here, where the deep erosion has been taking place, and I am very much interested in this situation, and because it is tied in with this situation, to me makes it a project which by all means should be approved, and I am heartily in favor of the Army project as outlined.

I have with me today Mr. Earney Thompson, one of the most highly respected citizens of Oxnard.

This whole area has been interested in the harbor. As you suggested, Mr. Scudder, it was perhaps the most important harbor in 1945, and also by reason of the fact a year or two ago it was contemplated-I hesitate to go into it because I do not know if it is classified or not-but there was a movement to put this into the Midwest, which was completely forgotten, and the construction that is being done there now is of a permanent nature-if I remember the situation correctly.

There is one point I want to call your attention to, and then I would like to have Mr. Thompson come up, Mr. Chairman, if you have a few minutes to hear from him.

Mr. ANGELL. We will be very glad to hear Mr. Thompson.

Mr. BRAMBLETT. I have been at this point along in this area here over a period of time and have actually seen the erosion, not a matter of 1 or 2 feet, but 12, 15, and 25 feet taken away in a short time. Right here is the illustration, but it does not show you how close the erosoin is to the sanitation facilities of Port Hueneme. And Port Mugu, one of the most important guided missile centers in the country along with the one in Florida, is under this same command. The two work together all the time. The people in this area are helping to service these two and also the Oxnard area and are carrying on projects of their own because I have seen 50-foot chunks of their beaches washed away. In a short distance is the Port Hueneme sanitation facilities, and you have your chief operations and canneries

here [indicating]. A lot of fish are brought in here because of a lack of fish up in there, Mr. Mack, as you have heard, and they have carried them through this one slip, which the Colonel talked about, and used them at Monterey. So it is used extensively and I suspect the Navy would like to make some other facilities available, as they have been very, very cooperative.

There is a very definite need that this area be kept filled. If you gentlemen have not been to this harbor, it would be worthwhile for you to see the Port Hueneme operation.

I think that covers it unless you have questions.

Mr. MACK. What are the main types of fish? Tuna?

Mr. BRAMBLETT. The main type of fish that come in here, to my knowledge, are the sardines, other than pleasure fishing. If there are other fish in commercial quantities other than tuna, it is also brought in here, but outside of those two, I do not know, and I could not tell you the money value, either. Mr. Thompson probably could give you more information. I would like to introduce to you Mr. Earney Thompson.

Mr. ANGELL. We shall be very glad to hear you, Mr. Thompson.

STATEMENT OF EARNEY J. THOMPSON

Mr. ANGELL, Mr. Thompson, we will be very glad to hear you at this time.

Mr. THOMPSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am very pleased to be in attendance this morning.

Mr. ANGELL. Will you give your full name and your position? Mr. THOMPSON. My name is Earney J. Thompson.

Throughout the entire Ventura County area, Port Hueneme has been very important. We are very proud of Port Hueneme, and its contribution during the war, during which time it was one of the most important harbors, and by and large, it will remain important. It is being maned by some 2,500 civilians at the present time.

Mr. ANGELL. What is its controlled depth?

Mr. THOMPSON. Of the Harbor?

Mr. ANGELL. Yes.

Mr. THOMPSON. About 35 feet, I believe. : Colonel, is that somewhere near right?

Colonel ALLEN. Yes, sir; and, it is good.

Mr. THOMPSON. And it is somewhat of a natural cleaning harbor, and it flows through here, and the outlet is kept in very good shape. There is one point which I would like to bring to your attention now as to what happened in this area here [indicating].

We have the Ventura County Railroad which connects with the SP Line at Oxnard, in here to Hueneme serving the base. We did have a route that went through here [indicating] and back to Hueneme, which I believe from a military security angle is quite important.

That railroad has now disappeared. This erosion has taken out that line. So, as a result, we have a one-way rail line here [indicat ing]. That is an important item so far as future security is concerned, I am sure.

I would like to add, too, the area here is not only serving Ventura County. It is the Ventura County High School District which

financed this, which is one of the largest high school districts in California.

The shipping out of here at the present time is asphalt coming from the Santa Maria area, which in itself has been a big item to that community. There had not been an economical outlet for that asphalt up until the time they found it possible to ship by truck from Santa Maria some 65 miles, I believe, into Port Hueneme for shipment

overseas.

So, it is not actually only a fishing area now, but there are other commodities to be handled.

Lumber, at the present time, is coming into Port Hueneme to what we call doek 1, and being trucked as far as to a large project which is being built at Las Vegas, Nev., and it is our great desire, and our hope, that things will straighten out, so that we can do more shipping in and out of dock 1.

It is not to capacity yet. We are at the present time not asking for more slips, because we feel we have to crawl before we can walk, and dock 1 can very well be a very important item for all commodities in and out of the State, and county.

Citrus is also going out. There has been much talk of a route from the San Joaquin Valley, then cotton, and so forth, will go out. which is being raised there.

It is a very logical idea in order to get out of the traffic of the large metropolitan area of Los Angeles.

The erosion has been very damaging, and a great many pieces of property have been destroyed in here. The Oxnard citrus plant lies in here. They have spent thousands of dollars of their own money with seawalls, and so forth.

I believe that is all I have to say, as to the importance of this future expansion.

As the Colonel so well put it, this would be a private area, or yachting harbor, for fishing by private boats, and whatnot.

I would also like to tell the committee that in our part of the county we have no recreation area on our shoreline. We have a very long shoreline, but we do not have a real recreation center.

The boats and the yachts that are owned by people in Ventura County are at the present time berthed in Santa Barbara, and at Newport. There are very few facilities in the Los Angeles area. So, that would add to the economy of Ventura County all through, and I think it would expand it a great deal.

Mr. ANGELL. This project involves an excavation for an entire new harbor?

Mr. THOMPSON. Yes, sir; and that is being discussed in our county now, and we are making headway. A project such as this on one centralized point, naturally produces now problems in a county as. large as ours, it being an agricultural county. However, we have been working on this a long time, and we hope some day we will be able to realize the thing that will give us protection here.

Mr. ANGELL. What organization is handling your port?

Mr. THOMPSON. That has not been organized as yet to any great, extent. It would be a countywide proposition.

Mr. ANGELL. Where is the local contribution derived from?

Mr. THOMPSON. Our county board of supervisors at the present time are hoping that it will be derived from a straight county bond issue.

Mr. ANGELL. It would be a county contribution?

Mr. THOMPSON. Yes, sir. The Oxnard High School District could well be it, and we have the assessed valuation so that we can do that. Mr. ANGELL. When the Hueneme Port area was sold, to whom did

it belong?

Mr. THOMPSON. To the Oxnard High School District, which goes out east, as far as the Los Angeles County line.

Mr. BRAMBLETT. Mr. Chairman, I think the point he is making is that the high-school district and the harbor district commissioners and the commissioner of the harbor did not run a different port. They controlled this by the trustees.

Mr. THOMPSON. Yes, sir; we used that boundary line. We would still have our harbor district in existence.

Mr. ANGELL. The legal entity that would be responsible for the local contribution and for handling the port is a port district of the county, or of the State?

Mr. THOMPSON. It will be a county situation. However, that has not come to that type of head.

Mr. ANGELL. The Hueneme Port was the port district; is that right?

Mr. THOMPSON. Yes, sir; that was a separate commission, and that is still in existence on account of the selling of existing bonds, and they still have to stay, even though they do not own the harbor, and we have the use of dock 1.

The harbor district office is located on dock 1.

Mr. ANGELL. Are there any further questions?

Mr. MACK. Do you have a fish processing plant or fish canneries at Port Hueneme for the processing of these fish?

Mr. THOMPSON. Yes, sir; we have a plant at Oxnard which is operated by a concern from Monterey. So, the importance of the fishing industry in and around the harbor at Port Hueneme is great, there is a very large fish-packing plant in the city of Oxnard. It is now some 5 years old, and is doing very well.

Mr. MACK. You are required by California law to process a certain amount of the pilchard catch for food?

Mr. THOMPSON. Yes, sir; and they do a tremendous export business, as well.

Mr. ANGELL. Are there any further questions?

Mr. SCUDDER. One of the important factors in this project is to build up the eroded area south of the Government port, and it would be about as cheap to get the required amount of dirt from the enclosed area, as from any other place to obtain fill material?

Mr. THOMPSON. Yes, sir.

Mr. SCUDDER. If they feel there is a liability for the erosion in the area south of the harbor, and if they propose to do the job, it would seem to me that this would be the place to get material for remedying the conditon, which has been caused by the jetty construction.

Mr. THOMPSON. Yes, sir; and it is very close to it.

Mr. SCUDDER. So, the cost could very well be divided between the building of a harbor, and the caring for the condition of erosion which has taken place?

Mr. THOMPSON. Yes, sir. I believe the Army engineers feel the same way. That would be logical that way, and we might be getting

what we might term a 2-for-1 return. We have the assessed valuation, and this area will be used for yachts, which give added assessed evaluation.

Mr. SCUDDER. You could practically give up the use of the Hueneme Harbor, and it would serve a different purpose, than for fishing. I was down there during the war, and I know that area very well, and they had been having a great amount of difficulty.

That was a highly restricted area, and it was difficult for the fishermen to secure permits to navigate the harbor. They were screened pretty thoroughly and escorted in and out of the harbor.

Mr. THOMPSON. Yes, sir.

Mr. SCUDDER. The fishing boats could work out of the contemplated harbor?

Mr. THOMPSON. Yes, sir; and I would like to say in the record, in addition to what Congressman Bramblett said, that the Navy and Army engineers are most cooperative in our area, and we feel that so far as we are concerned, we are getting along beautifully. We are proud of our Navy, and the work that the Army engineers have done. We do have a serious problem, and it is gradually increasing.

Hueneme is a very important community, and it is too bad to see that district deteriorating here. A few years ago we had to have the Red Cross in there to take care of some of their people. It was serious, the way it was gnawing into the groundwork.

Mr. ANGELL. How many acres are required for the construction of the harbor?

Mr. THOMPSON. How many acres? I do not believe I can answer that. I believe the Colonel has some figures on that.

Colonel ALLEN. We may have them here in the report, Mr. Angell. Mr. ANGELL. Approximately how many, and what type land is it? Colonel ALLEN. About 50 acres of beach land, dunes, and marsh land.

Mr. ANGELL. It is highly developed, and expensive land which might have to be acquired?

Mr. THOMPSON. There was talk at one time of moving the houses from here and making a deal with the residents and acquiring property to the north, and then having the houses moved down there, but the people who live down there have not bought them as opportunities, taking advantage of the possible project. They want the beach, whether they are located at this spot or a little north. I don't think it is going to matter too much, since they are permanent residents.

Mr. ANGELL. Are there any further questions from members of the committee?

Mr. NEAL. I think the question for us to decide here is whether this new project will completely take care of the present tendency toward erosion, at least to the extent that that which will be taken out will not have to be done again, every 2 years.

In other words, will we eliminate the erosion going on now by this new project?

Mr. THOMPSON. There will be constant maintenance, I believe, and the colonel would have the technical information on that.

Colonel ALLEN. We have a good deal of experience on the California coast, Mr. Neal. At Santa Barbara we have used a plan of periodical dredging from the Santa Barbara Harbor which is shoaled

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