172-13 Plugging the Past, Mapping the Future: Leveraging Geospatial Tools for Post-Oil Urban Revitalization

Session: Environmental Geochemistry and Health (Part II)

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Abstract:

As Los Angeles County transitions away from oil production, well sites across unincorporated communities require closure, remediation, and purposeful reuse planning. Many of these sites are concentrated in communities bearing disproportionate environmental and public health burdens, creating an urgent need for equitable reinvestment. This study examines how oil well sites can be systematically evaluated and repositioned for community-serving reuse through an integrated, Geographic Information System (GIS)-based evaluation.

GIS-based spatial analysis served as the methodological backbone of this research. By mapping oil well sites, community data, and nearby off-site contamination sources, GIS enabled comprehensive database reviews that characterized sources of uncertainty, community needs, and brownfields redevelopment opportunity alike, influencing both remediation costs and regulatory pathways. Critically, GIS tools support the development of conceptual site models (CSMs) by visualizing multiple layers of data, including spatial relationships between well sites and sensitive receptors, lateral and vertical contamination extents, petroleum impacts, and land reuse feasibility.

GIS-enabled insights directly shaped the study's core findings, revealing widespread ownership complexity, mixed operational statuses among wells, and proximity constraints that necessitate consideration of coordinated remediation approaches. These findings point to a central conclusion: oil well site transition is a multi-year, multi-agency process that demands careful sequencing of technical activities, coordinated regulatory alignment, and site scoring to improve success rates. Building on this conclusion, the research produced a six-phase process framework and decision-tree model that identifies key feasibility thresholds, including site control, regulatory clarity, technical and financial feasibility, and land use compatibility.

The findings demonstrate that GIS tools are not merely supplementary but essential to transforming how counties can identify, prioritize, and plan for site reuse for areas of greater need. The County is currently prioritizing reuse opportunities for parks, affordable housing, community facilities, and clean energy infrastructure. This study establishes a replicable, spatially-informed foundation for safely closing oil well sites while equitably reinvesting in historically overburdened communities.

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