U.S. EPA Region 9 Targeted Brownfields Assessment Program United States &™ta,pro.ec.|on Cafe Camellia/ Fronk's Restaurant • Bellflower, CA Project Description Address: Property Size: 16914 Bellflower Blvd. Bellflower, CA 0.33 acres Former Uses: Gas station, window tinting, and dry cleaners Contaminants: Petroleum hydrocarbons Redeveloped Use: Two restaurants with out- door patio seating View of new construction at Cafe Camellia/Fronk's Restaurant Site. Property History The Cafe Camellia/Fronk's Restaurant site is located on the corner of Bellflower Blvd. and Walnut Ave. in downtown Bellflower. The site is in a commercial area, adjacent to a mixed-use residential building, and has long been an eyesore because of the poorly maintained buildings and remnants of the former gas station. The property had previously been occupied by a fueling and service station from the 1940s to the 1970s. Since the 1970s, part of the site was used for a restaurant and the other part was used for window-tinting and car stereo installation services. U.S. EPA Actions EPA supports revitalization and redevelopment of un- used or underutilized sites that may have been im- pacted by contamination. EPA's Underground Storage Tank (UST) Program provided support for the identifi- cation and initial assessment of the Cafe Camellia site in 2011, for which Bellflower had stalled redevelopment plans due to potential contamination. After the initial assessment, the site transitioned to the Brownfield Pro- gram, which provided a Targeted Brownfields Assess- ment field investigation of the property in 2012. The investigation was intended to determine if petroleum contamination from three USTs onsite had caused groundwater or soil contamination that may impact the health of future site occupants and next-door residents. Analytical results from soil samples collected onsite showed that petroleum contamination was present in the soil beneath the USTs. However, the contamination was below residential screening levels so no additional investigation was necessary. Redeveloped Site Use The fieldwork enabled the redevelopment project to move forward as part of Downtown Bellflower's Revi- talization Vision Strategy, for which the City of Bell- flower received a "Neighborhood Planning Award" from the American Planning Association (APA) in 2012. Con- struction of the new building began in summer 2013 and was completed in February 2014. The new building houses Fronk's Restaurant. The Cafe Camellia building was renovated and an outdoor seating area was built. The project is integrated with an adjacent, mixed-use affordable housing project. Approximately $65,000 was spent by EPA on site investigation costs. For Additional information, please contact EPA Region 9 staff: Deirdre Nurre • California Grant Project Officer • Underground Storage Tank Program • (415) 947-4290 • nurre.deirdre@epa.gov Glenn Kistner • Brownfields Coordinator • Brownfields Program • (415) 947-3520 • kistner.glenn@epa.gov ------- |