Phase I Historic Resources Report for the Edgington Oxnard Refinery, Oxnard, Ventura County, California December 2020 Prepared for: California Resources Corporation Prepared by: Laura Taylor Kung, M.A. Shannon Davis, M.A., RPH 2034 Corte del Nogal Carlsbad, California 92011 (760) 804-5757 ASM Project Number 28101.04 Phase I Historic Resources Report for the Edgington Oxnard Refinery, Oxnard, Ventura County, California Prepared for: California Resources Corporation Prepared by: Laura Taylor Kung, M.A. Shannon Davis, M.A., RPH ASM Affiliates, Inc. 2034 Corte del Nogal Carlsbad, California 92011 December 2020 PN 28101.04 Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................ iii 1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 1 SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................... 1 Survey Area ............................................................................................................... 2 Field Methods ............................................................................................................ 2 Research Methods ..................................................................................................... 2 Key Personnel ........................................................................................................... 3 2.0 HISTORIC CONTEXT .................................................................................... 9 HISTORY OF THE EASTERN OXNARD PLAIN ............................................................ 9 Spanish Exploration and Mission Era (1769–1833) .................................................... 9 Land Grants and Ranchos (1833–1864) .................................................................... 9 Pioneering Settlement (1864–1898) ..........................................................................10 Beans, Beets, and Industry (1898–1945) ..................................................................11 Agriculture and Suburbs (1945–1965) ......................................................................12 3.0 REGULATORY FRAMEWORK ................................................................... 25 NATIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION ACT (NHPA) .................................................25 NHPA Historical Property ..........................................................................................25 Ventura County Cultural Heritage Ordinance ............................................................28 4.0 SURVEY FINDINGS ..................................................................................... 31 CHARACTER-DEFINING FEATURES ..........................................................................43 5.0 EVALUATION OF ELIGIBILITY................................................................... 57 HISTORIC DISTRICT ASSESSMENT ...........................................................................57 NRHP/CRHR ............................................................................................................57 Criteria A/1 ................................................................................................................57 Criteria B/2 ................................................................................................................57 Criteria C/3 ...............................................................................................................58 Criteria D/4 ...............................................................................................................58 Integrity .....................................................................................................................58 Ventura County Evaluation .......................................................................................59 California Environmental Quality Act Evaluation .......................................................60 Conclusion ................................................................................................................60 REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 61 APPENDICES ..................................................................................................... 65 APPENDIX A ........................................................................................... DPR 523 Forms APPENDIX B .............................................................. Records Search Results Summary Edgington Oxnard Refinery i Table of Contents LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Project vicinity map. ............................................................................................................... 4 Figure 2. Edgington Oxnard Refinery location map. ............................................................................. 5 Figure 3. Aerial view of Edgington Oxnard Refinery.............................................................................. 6 Figure 4. Assessor map of parcels containing site of Edgington Oxnard Refinery. .............................. 7 Figure 5. View of Chase Brothers Dairy from vintage 1950s postcard. ............................................... 16 Figure 6. Advertisement for Chase Brothers Dairy from Ventura County Star Free Press, December 14, 1962. ............................................................................................................. 17 Figure 7. Advertisement for Edgington Oxnard Refinery from Ventura County Star Free Press, 1956. .......................................................................................................................... 19 Figure 8. Advertisement for Edgington Refineries showing both Long Beach and Oxnard plants, from Long Beach Independent, April 19, 1954. ........................................................ 20 Figure 9. View from the refinery toward Del Norte Boulevard, looking northwest. .............................. 32 Figure 10. Looking south from East 5th Street toward the refinery. ...................................................... 32 Figure 11. Site map with surveyed tanks and structures labeled. ......................................................... 33 Figure 12. East façade of Control Room and distillation towers, looking southwest. ............................ 34 Figure 13. North façade of Control Room, looking southwest. .............................................................. 34 Figure 14. West façade of Control Room, looking southeast. ............................................................... 35 Figure 15. View of the Maintenance Shop, looking northwest. .............................................................. 35 Figure 16. Detail view of primary (east) façade of Maintenance Shop, looking southwest. .................. 36 Figure 17. Former Fire Station building, looking northwest. .................................................................. 36 Figure 18. View of Lab, Fire Station and Maintenance Shop, looking southwest. ................................ 37 Figure 19. East façade of Lab, looking southwest. ................................................................................ 37 Figure 20. Detail of fenestration on east façade of Lab......................................................................... 38 Figure 21. View of north façade of Lab from 2011, from Google streetview. ........................................ 38 Figure 22. Shed in Chemical Processing area, looking south. .............................................................. 39 Figure 23. View of north façade of Shed, looking south. ....................................................................... 39 Figure 24. View of Derrick, looking west. .............................................................................................. 40 Figure 25. View of Tank 501, looking south. ......................................................................................... 41 Figure 26. Tanks 506 and 506, looking south. ...................................................................................... 41 Figure 27. View showing tank 3501 to the left and Tank 1002 to the right, looking east. ..................... 42 Figure 28. Distant view showing 1500 series tanks in the foreground. ................................................. 42 Figure 29. Tank 2002 on right and 2001 to its left, looking west. .......................................................... 44 Figure 30. Tank 2003 with empty space where Tank 2004 was located, looking west. ....................... 44 Figure 31. Tanks 2006 (on left) and 2005, looking southwest. ............................................................. 45 Figure 32. Tanks 2011, 2012 and water tank, looking east. ................................................................. 45 Figure 33. Tanks 2009 and 2008, looking west. .................................................................................... 46 Figure 34. View of Water Tank, looking northwest. ............................................................................... 46 Figure 35. View of Tank 3502, looking northeast. ................................................................................. 47 Figure 36. View of Tank 3501, looking east. ......................................................................................... 47 Figure 37. Tank 20001, looking northwest. ..........................................................................................