EnvironmentLA

Brownfields Success Sites

South Los Angeles Wetlands Park

On April 1, 2011, Council President Pro Tempore, Jan Perry celebrated the opening of the first phase of the South Los Angeles Wetland Park at 54th St. and Avalon. The project is the result of over five years of hard work and negotiations with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) that owned the site, meetings with community stakeholders and the amassing of over $26 million dollars for site acquisition and development.

Background - This site was brought to the attention of the Brownfields Program in 2002 by Jan Perry, the Councilmember from the Ninth Council District. The nine-acre site was being used by the MTA for vehicle maintenance and storage of parts and equipment. It’s location across the street from an elementary school made it a good location for a new park. Through consultation with the community and City departments a plan was adopted to develop the site as a park and constructed wetland. The wetland park will consist of a lake, boardwalks, trails, native plants with signage and passive recreation space while it also cleans storm-water. A portion of flows from a local storm drain will be routed to the project and treated prior to discharge to the wetlands. The wetlands will provide supplemental polishing treatment of the storm-water flows so that the water can be used for irrigation and other purposes within the park or discharged to the storm drain. The park will incorporate sustainability features such as solar lighting and recycling of an existing building. Eventually, the park will also include a railroad museum and community meeting space.

Site Assessments & Funding - The Brownfields Program funded and supervised a Phase I assessment in September 26, 2002, a Preliminary Endangerment Assessment (PEA) in 2004 and a supplemental Site Assessment in 2005. The PEA was funded by a Targeted Site Investigation grant obtained from the California Department of Toxic Substances Control by the Brownfields Team. The other studies were funded by the City’s Brownfields Fund consisting of CDBG funds set aside for this purpose.

In 2009, the Brownfields Team applied for and was awarded a $200,000 US EPA Brownfields Cleanup Grant to help pay for site remediation. MTA agreed to cover the cost to remediate the site to industrial standards. The Cleanup Grant is providing funds to remediate the site to the higher standard required for a park. In 2006, the City Council approved $8.1 million in City Proposition O General Bond funding to develop the wetlands. The remainder of the funds to purchase and develop the park came from the City’s Proposition K Program, grant funding from California State Propositions 12, 40 and 50, funds from the Collection System Settlement Agreement and site cleanup credit from MTA. The park was designed by the City’s Department of Recreation and Parks in consultation with the community.

Dedication - A portion of the park was opened on April 1, 2001. It is expected that the wetlands portion of the park will be completed by the end of 2011. The development of this brownfields site is another example of several City departments collaborating with the Council District, the community, federal and state agencies to produce what promises to be a splendid multi-purpose environmental park for a densely populated community that will benefit greatly from such a beautiful amenity.

Gaffey Welcome Park in San Pedro

For over ten years, a vacant, abandoned former gas station blighted the primary entrance to the community of San Pedro. This site at the terminus of the 110 freeway was unsightly, attracted illegal dumping and graffiti. There were also leaking petroleum underground storage tanks on site. Through the perseverance of Councilmember Janice Hahn, the City Redevelopment Agency and the cooperation of the City’s Department of Recreation and Parks, the gas station has been replaced by a beautiful Welcome Park.

When this site was referred to the Brownfields Program in the mid1990s, the first step was to track down the owner. It was determined that he was unlikely to redevelop the site. The Brownfields Program applied for and was awarded a U.S. EPA USTfields grant to remove underground tanks from this and another site elsewhere in the City. The USTs were removed in 2003.

Between March 2003 and January 2004, the Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative (LANI) conducted and facilitated community outreach to mobilize and empower community stakeholders and oversee the development of a community-driven conceptual plan. In September, 2007, the City’s Department of Recreation and Parks completed the welcome park that includes new landscaping, trees, paving and seating.

Lula Washington Dance Theatre on Crenshaw Blvd.

The contamination at this site occurred while the facility was used as an ambulance and vehicle repair service. When that firm went bankrupt, they could not afford to address the contamination. The Lula Washington Contemporary Dance Foundation purchased the site for a dance theatre and school. The Foundation worked with the City’s Brownfields Program to obtain funds to assess and remediate the contamination.

The Lula Washington Dance Theatre (LWDT) is a Non-Profit Arts organization that was founded in 1980 by Lula and Erwin Washington to provide a creative outlet for dance artists in Los Angeles. The foundation is made up of inter-related parts: the School, Youth Dance Ensemble and the professional dance company (Lula Washington Dance Theatre). One goal is to keep young people off the streets by giving them creative alternatives to drugs, gangs, violence and failure. Students who do not want to become professional dancers enjoy the enrichment, character development and positive benefits that come from an involvement with dance.

After the Dance Theater’s previous building was damaged in the 1993 Northridge Earthquake, Lula and Irwin Washington and their supporters worked hard to raise the money to purchase the new building at a bankruptcy sale. They felt the location and facilities were perfect and that somehow the resources would be found to deal with the contamination.

The Brownfields Program was an enthusiastic partner with the Foundation in seeking and obtaining funds for assessment and remediation of the contamination. When the Dance Theater took over the site, the vehicle repair area and an old vehicle lift were still in place. Outside in the parking lot above ground tanks were still present.

The first step was to complete Environmental Site Investigations to determine the extent and type of contamination. A Phase II Environmental Site Investigation determined levels of contamination. Hydraulic lifts, a floor drain and above ground petroleum storage tanks were removed and a soil gas monitoring system was installed. This removal method utilizes one or more machines that function similar to large vacuum cleaners, pulling gasses out of the soil. The gases are collected in canisters and removed from the site.

Project funding was provided by a combination of local, state and Federal funds. The City of Los Angeles used $30,000 from its $200,000 U.S. EPA USTfields Grant which helps cleanup leaks from underground petroleum storage tanks. The largest block of funding was a $200,000 U.S. EPA Cleanup Grant that was awarded to the Lula Washington Dance Theatre directly. In addition, the State of California provided $50,000 and the City of Los Angeles provided $50,000 from its Brownfields Fund. The environmental investigations and cleanup were performed by Converse Environmental supervised by U.S. EPA staff on loan to the City of Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA/LA).

Rockwood Park in Filipino Town

History of Site - The story of Rockwood Park starts in 2000 when complaints led to the discovery that methane and hydrogen sulfide gases were leaking into several apartment buildings. The buildings were officially found to be unsafe and all occupants had to move.

Councilmember Eric Garcetti felt it was not acceptable for such a valuable property in historic Filipino Town to sit vacant. He consulted with neighborhood residents and local organizations who agreed that the half-acre site should be developed as a park.

Contamination Information and Funding Sources - It was believed that the contamination resulted from the site being part of the historic Los Angeles oil field. This particular site had oil wells on it from approximately 1906 through at least 1970 when the apartment buildings were built. Perhaps gases were seeping up through old oil wells that were not closed properly. Since the primary threat was from gasses accumulating in the buildings, the site was fenced to keep out intruders.

Then the City began what became a lengthy negotiation with the owners of three separate properties to acquire the property. Funds were set aside from the City’s allocation of State Park Bond funds to purchase the property and construct the park. Additionally, the City’s Brownfields Program applied for and was awarded what would be the first of several U.S. EPA Brownfields grants to help pay for assessment and remediation of the site.

In 2004, the City received a $200,000 brownfields assessment grant from the U.S. EPA which paid for a Phase II Environmental Site Investigation that was carried out by contractors supervised by engineers at the City’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA/LA). The assessment determined that soil in specific areas contained petroleum hydrocarbons as high as 35,480 parts per million which is above California state standards. A location was identified where sewage may have been deposited and could be a source of methane gas. A former oil well was located.

No indication was found of a danger from hydrogen sulfide or methane gas. However, since this property is above a natural petroleum deposit, it could occasionally have natural seeps of crude oil or gasses. Since the site will be used as a park, the gasses will dissipate naturally and not pose a hazard. The environmental investigation recommended that the former oil well be closed and 1,600 cubic yards of soil be removed and disposed in an appropriate landfill.

In 2007 the Brownfields Program applied for and was awarded a $200,000 US EPA Brownfields Cleanup Grant for this site. When it was found that this would not cover the full costs of the cleanup, the City’s Brownfields Program obtained additional funds from another U.S. EPA program the California Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund.

Community Consultation - While the assessments and cleanup were taking place, the City’s Department of Recreation and Parks held a series of meetings with community members to create a design for the park. Rockwood Park was officially opened in May 9, 2011. Because the site is small and sloping, it was developed as a pocket park with areas for sitting or picnicking, and a play area for small children. The park incorporates sustainability features such as preserving existing trees on site, planting additional trees to mitigate heat island effect, use of solar powered night lighting, and drought tolerant landscaping.

This project is a success story for the neighborhood that will enjoy the park, the several City departments that collaborated on the project along with the California Department of Parks and Recreation and the U.S. EPA. What could have become a permanent neighborhood blight of boarded up, graffiti covered buildings and trash strewn weeds is now a community amenity that beautifies and provides badly needed family oriented outdoor space for this densely populated neighborhood.

ARTScorpsLA near Downtown Los Angeles

The City’s Brownfields Program collaborates with community organizations to help them redevelop brownfields into projects that benefit the community. This project is being undertaken by ARTScorpsLA, an artist collective that organizes community, youth and families to transform inner-city dump sites into oasis of green space through celebrations art, environmental and educational programs. ARTScorposLA also works with other community organizations to address issues such as health, tenant rights, immigration, environmental rights, domestic and gang violence.

For several years now, ARTScorpos has been developing three small adjacent brownfields properties (21,000 square feet in all) near Downtown Los Angeles. The vacant properties were a magnet for illegal dumping. Over a period of ten years, ARTScorpsLA has developed the Spiralling Orchards Park where they hold celebrations and after school and summer classes for students. Their next project will be a community center building.

They also plan to construct a low income housing project on a section of the property that has contamination issues. The entire property is located within the former Los Angeles oil field that had hundreds of oil wells until the early 1900s. The ARTScorpsLA property had three inactive oil wells and an above ground crude oil storage tank which have now been removed. The Brownfields Program has assisted by conducted Phase I and Phase II environmental investigations for this property and will continue to provide technical assistance and assist in obtaining funds for remediation.

Damson Oil Site in Venice

Before this brownfield was cleaned up, it blocked the view of the ocean from the beach front walkway. Valuable beach space on Dockweiler Beach State Park in the community of Venice was behind a wall that enclosed an abandoned oil drilling site. The City’s Department of Recreation and Parks had acquired the site for public use but lacked sufficient funds for the cleanup. The City’s Brownfields Program stepped in to provide badly needed gap funding to make the cleanup possible.

The property was acquired through a process that had provided some mitigation funds from the previous owner. The City’s Brownfields Fund provided an additional $100,000 to assist with the cost and oversight of the remediation that included property abandoning the oil wells, demolishing the structures, removing soil contaminated with metals and crude oil, completing lead and asbestos abatement, and installing groundwater monitoring wells. A private consultant performed the work under the supervision of an engineer with the City’s Community Redevelopment Agency(CRA/LA). After remediation, quarterly groundwater monitoring was overseen by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board. The site was restored as part of the adjacent beach recreation area. Later a skate park was built on a portion of the reclaimed site.

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Contacts
For more information on the City's Brownfields Program please contact: 
Nuna Tersibashian of Bureau of Sanitation at (213) 485-3791, or
Dan Weissman of the Community Redevelopment Agency at 213-977-2687.