While the vast fields of fertile soil were appreciated for the agricultural bounty that could be produced, the sand dunes and wetlands along the coast line were considered useless except as places to dispose of solid and liquid waste. This at least dates back to 1898 when the beet sugar factory sent the wastewater discharge through a pipe to Ormond Beach. Various other areas near the coast were used for dumping trash and oil-waste, much of the time with local government encouragement and supervision. The Halaco Engineering Co., a metal recycling facility at the Ormond Beach wetlands, deposited process wastes and wastewater from the smelter from 1965 until 2004 on what was allegedly a former open dump operated by the City of Oxnard until 1962. The waste pile contains an estimated and the facility has been designated a Superfund site. Other large, polluting industries were cited at Ormond Beach wetlands before environmental concerns highlighted the importance of restoring the area to serve as a dynamic habitat for a wide array of native plants and animals.