LA allocates $28M of funds to turn former Puente Hills landfill site into regional park

LA PUENTE, Calif. (KABC) -- Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis Wednesday celebrated a $28.25 million allocation of funds for a regional park in Puente Hills, the first new recreational space of its kind in the county in more than 35 years.

The Puente Hills County Regional Park will take shape on the former site of the Puente Hills Landfill, which at its peak was the largest dump in the nation but closed in 2013.

"The Puente Hills Landfill was once the largest operating landfill in the United States, and in the 1990s, there was a push to expand the landfill's operations -- and that is when I began my fight,'' Solis said. "I grew up in La Puente, not too far from the landfill, and I still remember the unpleasant odor and truck traffic the site had throughout my neighborhood.

Solis authored the bill in 1994 when she was a member of the California State Assembly, which calls for the transformation of the landfill into a park after its closure.

"With the approval of my motion [Tuesday], we are on our way to help make this a reality," she said. "The new regional park will benefit generations to come in the East San Gabriel Valley.''

The Board of Supervisors voted to allocate the funds received from a sale of about nine acres of land at the Diamond Bar Golf Course to accommodate a freeway interchange.

With the allocation, nearly $110 million has been dedicated toward the design and initial construction of the regional park project. The county received roughly $80 million toward the project through the settlement of a lawsuit against the county Sanitation Districts over the future of the former landfill site.

The regional park is envisioned as a 142-acre space with a mix of amenities, but primarily open space and hiking trails.

City News Service contributed to this report