Brownfields Case Study Sites

Goodyear Tract

(click to enlarge)

Background: The City’s Brownfields Revitalization Program provides assistance to a wide range of individual development sites throughout the City of Los Angeles. The Brownfields Site Assistance Work Program, under the direction of the Brownfields Executive Team, is carried out by the Brownfields Resource Team, consisting of senior staff from the Environmental Affairs Department, the Community Redevelopment Agency, the Community Development Department, the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development, and the Chief Legislative Analyst’s office. Additional staff assistance is provided by the U.S. EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers. Program assistance falls under six primary categories: On-Call Technical Assistance; Exploratory Site Assessments; Major Economic Development Sites; Special Purpose Capacity-Building Sites; Brownfields Demonstration Sites and Showcase Community Matching Fund Sites; and Showcase Community Matching Fund Sites.

The purpose of the Brownfields Demonstration Sites category is to demonstrate multiple brownfields strategies and approaches at complex development sites with significant economic potential. The FY01 demonstration site may actually consist of multiple sites with the overarching goal of developing, implementing and evaluating Polanco Act approaches.

Goodyear Tract Site
The site is a 208-acre industrial area located in South Central Los Angeles, also near the Alameda Corridor (demarcated by the intersections of E. Slauson and E. Florence Avenues, with Avalon Boulevard and S. Central Avenue, Los Angeles 90001). This area is occupied by 325 small industrial businesses, with many small vacant properties, and surrounded by residential neighborhoods. Several parcels are already known to be contaminated. Past manufacturing/industrial uses and the presence of railroad tracks used for bulk loading and unloading of chemical compounds throughout the site indicate a high likelihood of additional soil contamination. Contamination has contributed to the inability of current business owners to obtain financing for expansion and remodeling and has hindered efforts to recruit new businesses to the area.

The City’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) has been working with cooperating owners in target areas, such as the Slauson/Central, GE, United LA Alloys and Apex Patterns sections; site access is secured by agreements with them. CRA has used the Polanco Act, a state mechanism to enforce cleanup, in the Slauson/Central section and owners in the other areas are undertaking cleanup independently. The large number of small properties, each under different ownership, complicates planning efforts and makes it difficult to assemble larger property bundles for cost-effective development; CRA intends to purchase the parcels once assembled. Also, easily-accessible abandoned alleys and railroad right-of-ways have attracted illegal dumping to the site.

The City has identified one the Slauson/Central portion of the Goodyear Tract as a candidate for federal cleanup funds and is in the process of applying for those resources. The property has a history of various industrial activities and has most recently been occupied by a used auto dealership and a metal recycling facility. The current structures, such as loading docks, ramps, sheds, and concrete-and-asphalt paved parking lots will be demolished. Several environmental assessments of varying scope and detail have been performed on the property--ranging in complexity from site walks and visual inspections and Phase I environmental assessments (requiring more detailed site reconnaissance and research) to multi-media site assessments and screening-level health risk evaluations. The federal grant would support correction of environmental justice burdens in this community and foster quality of life and improved social patterns in the community by transforming the present-day industrial use of the site to a much-needed retail use that will be convenient, accessible, and safe for members of the community. At present, retail services are in critically short supply in the area and residents--who usually lack vehicles--are forced to travel long distances for their routine consumer needs. The Slauson/Central redevelopment project will include public participation and will be enrolled in the State's Voluntary Cleanup Program. The City will arrange for oversight by the appropriate State regulators, in this case, the Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC).

For the entire Goodyear Tract site, the City has already received funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Economic Development Administration (EDA), which has allowed the Brownfields Team to accomplish the following: fence the site, monitor access, clean up abandoned rail spurs, rebuild infrastructure, and provide businesses will the support they need to expand and address contamination-related issues. Characterization of contamination remains a priority. Additional support has come from the site’s designation as a City Redevelopment Project Area.

For more information on the City's Brownfields Program contact:
Craig Tranby at (213) 978-0871 or fax (213) 978-0890;
for more information on the City’s Economic Development Programs contact:
Adriana Martinez at (213) 978-0674 or fax (213) 978-0780.