Cultural Resource Assessment

Cultural Resource Assessment WesPac LAX Pipeline Los Angeles County, California USGS Inglewood, Long Beach, South Gate, Torrance and Venice, California Quadrangles August 2007 Prepared for: Christopher A. Joseph & Associates Los Angeles Office 11849 W. Olympic Blvd., Suite 101 Los Angeles, CA 90064 Phone: (310) 469-6739 Fax: (310) 473-9336 Prepared by: Companies, Inc. 21 Technology Drive Irvine, California 92618 949–727–9336 WesPac LAX Pipeline Cultural Resource Assessment 8/30/2007 TABLE OF CONTENTS CULTURAL RESOURCES ...................................................................................1 1.0 AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT..........................................................................2 1.1 SITE DESCRIPTION ...................................................................................2 1.2 NATURAL HISTORY ...................................................................................2 1.3 DISTURBANCE WITHIN THE STUDY AREA ..............................................2 1.4 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PREHISTORY ..................................................2 1.5 NATIVE AMERICAN CONSULTATION .......................................................4 2.0 LAWS AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING CULTURAL RESOURCES ........5 2.1 OVERVIEW .................................................................................................5 2.2 FEDERAL REGULATIONS..........................................................................5 2.3 STATE REGULATIONS...............................................................................6 2.4 LOCAL REGULATIONS ..............................................................................8 3.0 BACKGROUND RESEARCH .......................................................................10 3.1 CALIFORNIA STATE HISTORIC LANDMARKS........................................10 3.2 THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES ...............................11 3.3 CALIFORNIA ARCHAEOLGOCIAL INVENTORY .....................................11 3.4 TECHNICAL STUDIES/PREVIOUS SURVEYS.........................................12 3.5 PALEONTOLOGICAL RESOURCES ........................................................14 4.0 FIELD SURVEY ............................................................................................15 4.1 SURVEY METHODOLOGY AND COVERAGE .........................................15 4.2 SURVEY RESULTS ..................................................................................15 5.0 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES........................................................16 6.0 MITIGATION MEASURES............................................................................18 6.1 MITIGATION OF ADVERSE EFFECTS DUE TO RELATED IMPACTS.....18 - i - WesPac LAX Pipeline Cultural Resource Assessment 8/30/2007 6.2 AVOIDANCE .............................................................................................18 6.3 PHYSICAL DEMARCATION AND PROTECTION .....................................18 6.4 CREW EDUCATION..................................................................................19 6.5 ARCHAEOLOGICAL MONITORING .........................................................19 6.6 PALEONTOLOGIC MONITORING............................................................20 6.7 NATIVE AMERICAN MONITORING..........................................................22 6.8 FORMAL COMPLIANCE WITH CEQA SECTION 15064.5 AND 15126.4 AND SECTION 106 OF THE NHPA.................................................................23 7.0 MITIGATION FOR RESOURCE ...................................................................23 7.1 MITIGATION FOR RESOURCES DISCOVERED DURING CONSTRUCTION ...........................................................................................23 7.2 PROTECTION OF RESOURCES DURING FUTURE MAINTENANCE AND OPERATION ...................................................................................................23 7.3 SPECIFIC MITIGATION MEASURES .......................................................24 7.4 MITIGATION MEASURES FOR BUILT ENVIRONMENT ..........................25 8.0 REFERENCES .............................................................................................26 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Cultural Resource Monitoring Recommendations Map Figure 2 Monitoring Recommendations Map with site locations [restricted access] APPENDICES Appendix A Site Descriptions [restricted access] Appendix B Table of Laws & Regulations Governing Cultural Resources Appendix C Native American Consultation - ii - WesPac LAX Pipeline Cultural Resource Assessment 8/30/2007 CULTURAL RESOURCES Cultural resources include archaeological and historical objects, sites and districts, historic buildings and structures, cultural landscapes, and sites and resources of interest and concern to American culture, and interest groups. The following cultural resource analysis details efforts to determine whether cultural resources exist in areas that could be adversely affected by the project. The significance of any resources that will potentially be affected is assessed. Measures are proposed to mitigate potential adverse effects of the project to any significant resources that are present. Laws, ordinances, and regulations pertinent to the identification, assessment of significance, and mitigation of adverse effects to cultural resources are identified in Section 6, Mitigation Measures; Section 7, Mitigation for Resource; and Section 2, Laws and Regulations Governing Cultural Resources. As part of the field inventory, archaeological field investigations and historic evaluations were undertaken to assess the presence, absence, and/or the extent and significance of specific sites and features. All cultural resources work for this project was carried out under the direct supervision of an archaeologist who meets the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Archaeology and Historic Preservation, and is consistent with the procedures for compliance with Section 15064.5 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The cultural resources personnel who supervised the field survey and prepared the Technical Report are: . Dr. Chris Drover, Principal Investigator . Ms. Shelby Manney, Senior Archaeologist . Mr. David Smith, Senior Archaeologist . Michael Davis, Staff Archaeologist Dr. Drover meets the professional standards of the Secretary of the Interior for this work (Standards and Guidelines for Archaeology and Historic Preservation, National Park Service 1983), and is certified by the Register of Professional Archaeologists. With few exceptions, the potential effects of any project upon cultural resources in California are evaluated under CEQA. This report will serve as CEQA environmental documentation. - 1 - WesPac LAX Pipeline Cultural Resource Assessment 8/30/2007 1.0 AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT 1.1 SITE DESCRIPTION WesPac Pipelines LLC (WesPac) is proposing construction of an approximately 24-mile jet fuel pipeline between the City of Wilmington and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The pipeline alignment generally follows existing streets, but in two locations traverses small undeveloped areas. TRC Solutions, Inc. (TRC) conducted a cultural resource records search and survey in support of the study, to determine the potential for impacts to significant cultural resources. 1.2 NATURAL HISTORY The project site is located within the western Los Angeles Basin. The Basin itself is relatively flat and crossed by a number of perennial rivers (Los Angeles, San Gabriel, and Rio Hondo). These resources, in addition to the littoral and pelagic resources of the ocean, provide a relatively large native population at the time of historic contact. The climate of the area consists of hot, dry summers and cool, moist winters, and is characterized as Mediterranean. During the summer, winds are predominantly from the west, cooling otherwise hot days. Precipitation is mainly a result of winter dominant, frontal storms from the northwest, although occasional summer thundershowers result from damp air intruding from the southern (Gulf of Mexico to Sea of Cortez) monsoon season. 1.3 DISTURBANCE WITHIN THE STUDY AREA The primary source of surface and subsurface disturbance is urban construction. Thus, the majority of all surface prehistoric and protohistoric cultural resources have been destroyed; so, the only surface resources in the area include historic properties, to which less than significant impact is anticipated. 1.4 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PREHISTORY The prehistory of coastal southern California has been described by a number of authors who seem to agree on at least four major prehistoric periods (Wallace 1955; Warren 1968; Koerper; and Drover 1983). These four sequential periods of time, sometimes called Horizons and sometimes Traditions, are each characterized by time sensitive artifacts. Therefore, the periods are not arbitrary, but likely reflect material/cultural changes at those times. The earliest occupations of the southern California coast are debated to begin as early as - 2 - WesPac LAX Pipeline Cultural Resource Assessment 8/30/2007 50,000 years before present(B.P.) (Bada et al. 1974). The earliest radiocarbon dates, however, were derived from Los Angeles Man and Laguna Woman at 23,600 and 17,150 B.P. respectively (Berger et al. 1971). Unfortunately, little is known of the material culture in finds of this antiquity. The earliest archaeological culture known in any detail is that of San Dieguito, named after the drainage of the same name near Del Mar, California, where implements

Load more