Pointing out the irony of the situation at last Saturday’s Signal Hill Mayor’s Cleanup, Councilmember Larry Forester, Dave Dressler and Tom (TJ) & Lauri Sullivan of AAA Electrical Enterprises, Inc., joined about 30 others who picked up garbage that had been dumped in the Westside industrial area located between Atlantic and California avenues north of Willow Street. Signal Hill Disposal Company provided three large trash bins, which volunteers quickly filled with discarded mattresses, couches and other debris.
The Westside industrial area’s oilfields were historically exploited by independent oil field operators in the early 1930s. These so-called “Wildcats” subdivided the property into 25-foot wide lots suitable for oil exploration or more often oil speculation, but unsuitable for contemporary industrial development.
During the past several years, the Signal Hill Redevelopment Agency has made inroads into reclaiming the area for new, job-producing industrial uses, but there remain several vacant properties that tend to attract illegal dumping.
