Former Landfills

Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park / Machado Lake Project

Ken Malloy HarborCitywide Brownfields Program conducted environmental site investigations using the EPA Brownfield Assessment Grant.

Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park (KMHRP) is a 291-acre park in the Wilmington area of the City, containing Machado Lake, the southern portion of which is a freshwater marsh draining to the nearby Pacific Ocean and known for its bird-watching opportunities. The park is bordered by a major highway, community college and commercial and residential development, and contains a golf course, hiking trails, boating concession, children’s camps and picnic facilities.

The south end of Machado Lake consists of freshwater marsh near the lake dam that for decades has exhibited signs of environmental stress due to the lack of vegetative growth relative to the surrounding area. The previous investigations revealed that the barren area had elevated levels of arsenic, lead and cadmium, pointing to the possibility that these chemicals were part of past industrial waste disposal activities.

To the east of the lake and marsh, within KMHRP, a closed solid waste facility has been identified as the K&S Rubbish site. The K&S Rubbish Site is documented in CalRecycle’s Solid Waste Facilities database. The earliest record of dump activity is dated February of 1938 and records indicated three private dumps were operating in 1945.

Based on visual observation and previously conducted sampling events, the south west portion of the freshwater marsh is assumed to be a former disposal area for industrial waste and it is assumed that a cap was placed on this disposal area in the 1930’s. The Brownfields Program assisted with funding the Phase II ESA to determine necessary mitigation measures for the park site.

The City of Los Angeles is currently underway with the Machado Lake Ecosystem Rehabilitation Project. The primary objective of the project is to improve the water quality and biological diversity of the park’s Machado Lake, Additionally. The project will enhance the freshwater marsh area located south of the lake’s low earthen dam, to facilitate the treatment of stormwater runoff and other urban water sources that flow into the marsh.

Ken Malloy Ribbon Cutting

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