EPA-560-F-07-207 brownfields June 2007

at-a-glance

City of Orange, CA 

GRIJALVA PARK AT SANTIAGO CREEK Assessment and Cleanup Grants 

Greening Orange County: Creating Greenspace in the City of Orange

ADDRESS: 368 North Prospect Avenue, Orange, CA 92867 

PROPERTY SIZE: 27 acres 

FORMER USE: Landfill site 

CURRENT USE: Grijalva Park at Santiago Creek 

EPA GRANT RECIPIENT: PROJECT PARTNERS: 

The City of Orange received a $200,000 

EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant in 

2001 and a $200,000 EPA Brownfields 

Cleanup Grant in 2006 

Orange County Health Care Agency 

(OCHCA), Regional Water Quality 

Control Board (RWQCB), Community 

Foundation of Orange, Santiago Creek 

Greenway Alliance 

For additional data and geographic 

information for this and other 

Brownfields Grants, please visit EPA’s: 

Envirofacts -www.epa.gov/enviro/html/bms/ 

bms_query.html 

Enviromapper -www.epa.gov/enviro/bf 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

The City of Orange is located in central Orange County, approximately 32 miles from Los Angeles. With little new park development over 

the past 15 years, the city was in need of open space; it also had no indoor recreational areas, no community center and only one 

community pool for a population of 135,000. In 2001, the city received a $200,000 EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant to assess closed 

landfills on a former railroad site with the intention that open space and parks could be developed there and on the adjacent property. 

While the landfills were not municipal landfills, they were used for construction debris resulting from surface mining; additionally, they had 

been closed for 40 years. The Phase II assessment of the landfills revealed lead contamination; however, it did not indicate the presence of 

methane gas – a common byproduct of landfills. To address the lead contamination, the city received a $200,000 EPA Cleanup Grant in 

2006. As assessments were being conducted on the landfill sites, the first part of Grijalva Park at Santiago Creek was built on the nearby 

property in a separate effort. 

KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS: 

• Completed Phase I assessments at two landfills and a Phase II assessment 

that revealed lead contamination. While no methane was discovered in six 

months of testing, at the request of OCHCA, the city will continue to 

monitor for methane gas for several years. 

• Constructed a five-acre soil monocover (cap) over the landfill, successfully 

capping the lead contamination and preventing any migration; this was 

conducted in less than six months. 

• Leveraged $800,000 in private donations, $3.9 million from State 

Proposition 40 Park Grants and $4.6 in developer commitments; 

$1 million of which went to design and technical studies for the gymnasium, 

the remaining funds will be spent on construction. 

• Provided an opportunity for the creation of 42 acres of needed greenspace. 

OUTCOME: 

With regulatory approval from OCHCA, RWQCB and support from the two community groups, the City of Orange used its Cleanup 

Grant to plan and construct a soil monocover over a portion of the Grijalva Park site. EPA Cleanup funds were granted in early 2006 and 

the city completed construction of the cap in October of that year. The cap covers the former landfill, containing the contamination and 

preventing leaching into Santiago Creek. The five-acre capped area of the landfill property (which totals 27 acres) will be used for a 

portion of a 25,000 square-foot gymnasium and accompanying parking lot. Additional construction on the entire Grijalva Park site includes 

a 50,000 square-foot aquatic center, a skate park, a community center and open space. Construction will begin in September 2007. 

This 5-acre cap in the City of Orange was constructed over a 

former landfill to make way for greenspace, parking and planned 

development at Grijalva Park. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/ or call EPA Region 9 at (415) 947-8000