After more than a decade of navigating approvals from over a dozen state and federal agencies, officials Thursday celebrated the beginning of work to return 156 acres of coastal land to the public.
The land near Trader Joe’s just north of Second Street, where it meets Studebaker Road, is owned by Synergy Gas & Oil and has been used for decades as an active oil drilling site that straddles the Long Beach-Seal Beach line.
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The Long Beach company has already capped about half of the 39 oil rigs that operate there as it plans to grade and clean the land by the end of this year or early 2026. It will then move operations to a much smaller 7-acre parcel across the street on Pacific Coast Highway known as the “pumpkin patch” site because it has hosted seasonal pumpkin farms.
The Coastal Commission approved the project in March…