Countywide : County Claims Huntington Property

Adding to its land stores for the planned Bolsa Chica Regional Park, county officials have taken control of a 3.6-acre gas processing plant in Huntington Beach and plan to convert some of its structures to house exhibits highlighting the area’s oil and gas industry.

The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to claim the Huntington Beach Co. property near Seapoint Street and Garfield Avenue, now operated as an industrial plant by Shell Onshore Ventures.

Under terms of the agreement, the county will lease the property back to Shell until the plant closes in December. Also, the company must remove contaminates from the site.

The lease was needed to allow the company more time for the construction of a replacement gas site. In return, Shell will pay the county $100,000 in rent and $400,000 toward future park development.

Tuesday, county and Shell officials acknowledged there was “significant” contamination on the property from nearly four decades of industrial use. The contaminates were characterized as “low-level” and not containing cancer-causing agents, a Shell chemist said Tuesday.

Cleanup is expected to take several months and costs are to be paid by Shell Offshore Ventures.

The gas plant site will be part of the 106-acre regional park on the southeast edge of the Bolsa Chica wetlands reserve.

“We’re getting closer to seeing this park become a reality,” said Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder, whose district includes Huntington Beach.

Plans for the preservation of some plant structures will ensure that an important link to the area’s industrial history is maintained, Wieder said.

Wieder said she was satisfied that soil contaminates could be removed and not present future hazards for the area.