The city of Santa Fe Springs, Calif., is receiving an award for its work transforming a former 54-acre oil field into land suitable for residential use, according to the Whittier Daily News.
The city's redevelopment agency and developer Comstock Homes worked together to bring to residential standard the site, called the Villages at Heritage Springs. The award is the California Redevelopment Association Award of Excellence in the Special Citation category for the oil field transformation.
The site had to be environmentally profiled with extensive site characterization and remedial investigation studies. Oil sumps were removed, as well as concrete vaults from oil derricks, old pipelines (including asbestos-lined pipe), drilling mud and oil residue from well pumps.
It took about one and a half years to abandon the oil wells, which was overseen by the State of California Division of Oil and Gas and Geothermal Resources and the Santa Fe Springs Department of Fire-Rescue, officials said.
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