The empty lot at 490 West PCH has apparently been decontaminated and the monitoring wells will be removed. There are a lot of wells there.
In late 2009, the OC Health Care Agency recommended four Bridgeport families relocate from their homes near an ARCO gas station on PCH. It was the start of an environmental case that ultimately led to the demolition of the gas station and a lengthy decontamination project at the site.
“The State Water Resources Control Board has recently closed their environmental case on the site, and the County has authorized the removal of the monitoring wells,” wrote Seal Beach Community Development Director Shaun Temple in an Aug. 10, 2026 email.
(The Water Board’s Geotracker website lists the location as “Open—Eligible for closure as of 7/2/2026”.)
“Beyond that, the City has not received an application for development and I’m unaware of any expressed interest for development at this time,” Temple said.
The Water Resources Control Board Geotracker website recently issued an email notice of a new document on the website: A Well Destruction Workplan dated July 6, 2026. The OC Health Care Agency approved the plan, with conditions, on July 7, 2026. “The Orange County Local Oversight Program (OCLOP) has reviewed the subject document in which Stantec proposes to destroy 29 groundwater monitoring wells, 24 dual-phase extraction wells, and 24 soil vapor extraction wells, and 52 soil vapor probes,” wrote Geniece Higgins, supervising hazardous materials specialist, Land and Water Quality Section, Environmental Health, OC Health Care Agency.
(Stantec Consulting Services Inc., located in Paramount, representing Tesoro Refining & Marketing Company LLC, an indirect subsidiary of Marathon Petroleum Company LP, originally submitted the Well Destruction Workplan.)
“In addition to the requirement to destroy wells, abandonment of the remediation system infrastructure is required. The OCLOP understands, through email correspondence with Stantec, that all remedial piping will be abandoned in place and backfilled with density-controlled slurry,” Higgins wrote.
California and Orange County officials announced they were considering closing the decontamination case in July 2025. See “Public may comment on former ARCO gas station site thru Sept. 12,” at sunnews.org.
When the original environmental case began, 25 homes were located in the contamination zone surrounding the gas station. More than one decontamination proposal was considered, including using chemicals to remove toxic chemicals from the soil or using electricity to heat the toxic chemicals out of the soil.
The Seal Beach Environmental Quality Control Board initially supported chemical removal, called “chemical oxidation” but the Board members were later persuaded to change their minds in favor of physically removing contaminated soil from the site. That decontamination process was called “dig and haul.” See “Environmental board recommends ‘dig and haul’ for Bridgeport ARCO” at sunnews.org.
In August 2010, Orange County health officials told ARCO/BP to dig out the contaminated soil and water from the location.
In March 2011, the California Coastal Commission waived the permit requirement for the decontamination project.
The gas station was eventually closed and demolished to allow the excavation to take place. At the time, the gas station was among Seal Beach’s top 25 sales tax revenue generating businesses.
Excavation of the site was completed in September 2012. Decontamination of the site continued.