District may buy old oil site

Andrew Wainer

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The Huntington Beach Union High School District is in

negotiations to buy property adjoining Huntington Beach High School for

sports activities if the site passes state environmental tests.

This month, the state will test the property, which contains an old

Chevron oil well. The California Environmental Protection Agency will

conduct soil sampling of the site at 701 Yorktown Ave. for hazardous

gasses and other toxic materials.

Assistant Supt. Patricia Koch said the district has been interested in

the site since the early 1990s but had to abandon the project early on

because of the county bankruptcy.

The district is negotiating the purchase of the property with its current

owner -- the Morgan Stanley company.

Koch said the district will buy the property with developer fees, but

said she could not specify the amount because the sale is still under

negotiation.

The 1.09-acre property will be used to improve the sports fields for

Huntington Beach High and provide extra parking for the adjacent district

maintenance and transportation office.

But if the Department of Toxic Substance Control finds the property to be

contaminated, Koch said it will have to be cleaned before the district

can purchase it.

Koch said Chevron tested the land before selling it and found the

property to be uncontaminated, so she doesn’t expect problems this time

around.

The district and school officials said the site will ease several space

problems at the school.

“The left field fence line of the baseball field is cut off by the

property,” Koch said. “And our maintenance employees don’t have anywhere

to park.”

Skip Moyer, Huntington Beach High’s activities director, said the

baseball diamond’s left field fence is abnormally high to prevent too

many hits from leaving the park. The new property would allow left field

to be a normal length.

“This property would be a great benefit to our kids,” Moyer said.

Koch said if the site passes the environmental tests, a deal could be

completed on the site as soon as July 1.