If “Cooper Drum” turns up in your hazard report while you’re buying or selling near Atlantic Avenue and Rayo Avenue, start with EPA’s records. The cleanup is ongoing, and the agency’s definition of the site extends beyond the facility property.
The immediate item to check is EPA’s second Five-Year Review. Its stated completion deadline was September 30, 2026. As of October 21, 2026, the EPA page still described the review as under way, and the report had not appeared there when this guide was written.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice.
Where is the Cooper Drum site?
The Cooper Drum facility is a 3.8-acre property at 9316 South Atlantic Avenue in South Gate, but EPA’s Superfund site definition covers a larger area.
The City of South Gate’s Superfund Sites page lists Cooper Drum among three city Superfund sites located south of Firestone Boulevard and within a quarter mile of one another. It also directs readers to EPA’s local information repository at the Leland R. Weaver Library, 4035 Tweedy Blvd.
Rayo Avenue borders the facility to the east. The former Tweedy Elementary School property is directly south. In its 2021 review, EPA defined the site to include the Cooper Drum property and the downgradient area along Rayo Avenue and south of Southern Avenue to McCallum Avenue.
That distinction matters when you read a report. A reference to the “site” may mean the area EPA describes, rather than only the facility property. Those street names do not establish a finding about an individual home. For an address-specific question, ask EPA’s site team how the records relate to that address instead of drawing a boundary yourself.
What cleanup has been taking place?
EPA oversees an ongoing cleanup of soil and groundwater contamination associated with drum reconditioning at the property.
From 1941 until 1992, Cooper Drum Co. reconditioned closed-topped steel drums that previously held industrial chemicals. Fluids from reconditioning and hard washing collected in open concrete pits and trenches, leading to contamination beneath the site.
EPA selected a soil and groundwater remedy in a Record of Decision in 2002. The soil vapor extraction system began operating in February 2011. The groundwater treatment system was finished in September 2011, and extraction from the aquifer began in August 2012.
Additional extraction wells and conveyance piping were installed in 2015 to begin treating the contaminated groundwater plume extending to Southern Avenue. The Cooper Drum Cooperating Parties Group carries out the cleanup under EPA oversight.
What is happening with the 2026 review?
EPA’s second Five-Year Review was due no later than September 30, 2026, but its report had not appeared on the site page when this guide was written.
The review includes an inspection, examination of site data and maintenance records, consideration of new laws or requirements, and coordination with stakeholders. EPA says it will post the report when complete.
Check the EPA Cooper Drum site page for that report. As of October 21, 2026, the page still said EPA was doing the review. That posting status does not supply any findings from the second review.
The latest Five-Year Review posted for the site is the September 2021 report. Keep its conclusions tied to that date when discussing the property or reviewing sale documents.
What do EPA’s status measures mean?
EPA’s status measures describe different parts of cleanup progress, so each needs to be read separately.
The site page reports:
- Human Exposure Under Control: “Yes.” EPA explains this as no current unacceptable human exposure pathways.
- Groundwater Migration Under Control: “No.” EPA says migration of contaminated groundwater is not stabilized.
- Construction Complete: “No.”
- Sitewide Ready for Anticipated Use: “No.” EPA expressly says this is an internal performance measure, not a report of site-specific risk.
A single label doesn’t answer every question about the cleanup. The groundwater measure addresses migration, while the human exposure measure addresses exposure pathways. Read the labels with EPA’s explanations and the review report.
These are agency measures for the site. They do not provide an inspection finding for a particular home.
What did the 2021 review actually conclude?
EPA’s 2021 review called the remedy currently protective of human health and the environment while finding that the groundwater remedy was not functioning as intended.
Both conclusions belong in a fair account of the report.
For its protectiveness conclusion, EPA cited asphalt and concrete caps and security fencing that prevented direct contact with contaminated soil on the Cooper Drum property. The review also said residents were “connected to the municipal water supply” and that the closest municipal production wells were in a deeper aquifer below the extent of the site’s contamination.
For groundwater performance, EPA found that groundwater gradients did not show hydraulic control of the plume. It identified actions needed for long-term protectiveness, including defining the extent of contamination and adding pumping or extraction wells.
The review also said the soil vapor extraction system was controlling exposure to contaminants in soil vapor on-site and at the adjacent school property. These are the 2021 findings; they should not be presented as conclusions from the pending review.
Does the covenant issue apply to nearby homes?
The restrictive covenant discussed in EPA’s 2021 review concerns the Cooper Drum property itself.
The 2002 remedy required a recorded covenant preventing future uses, including residential, hospital, day care center and school uses, if contaminated soil remained above residential risk levels. In 2021, EPA reported that the covenant had not been entered.
Recording the required restrictions on property usage was among the actions the review identified for long-term protectiveness.
If you see that issue mentioned in sale paperwork, keep the property reference clear. The review’s discussion does not establish that a nearby home has such a covenant. Ask EPA’s site team about the current status of the restriction on the Cooper Drum property.
What can you check during a purchase or sale?
You can check EPA’s records alongside the home’s hazard report and seller disclosures, then put unresolved questions in writing.
Say a buyer reviewing a home near the Cooper Drum property compares EPA’s records with the home’s hazard report and seller disclosures. While reading EPA’s 2021 review, the buyer notices the discussion of a restrictive covenant and checks which property it concerns: the Cooper Drum property itself. The buyer then sends EPA’s site team a written question about how the records relate to the home’s address and checks the site page for the second Five-Year Review.
Start with the address and the street names EPA uses. Read the latest Five-Year Review when it is posted, paying attention to whether it updates the groundwater findings or covenant issue from 2021.
Then compare that information with the natural hazard or environmental report supplied with the sale. The guide to NHD reports is related reading for reviewing that document. Keep the California seller disclosure guide alongside the seller’s disclosures as you prepare questions.
Send address-specific questions to EPA’s site team, listed through its Site Contacts page; the library repository listed on the city page is another place to read EPA’s records. If your concern is the home’s water supply, ask the water provider about that supply. EPA’s explanation in the 2021 review gives context, but your question should identify the home you are checking.
For another records-based environmental topic, see the guide to former ordnance location disclosure.
The short version
Near Cooper Drum, check EPA’s current record and the documents for the specific property.
The cleanup continues. EPA’s 2021 review found the remedy currently protective while identifying groundwater performance problems and an unrecorded restriction on the Cooper Drum property. The second review had not appeared on the site page when this guide was written. EPA’s page gave September 30, 2026 as the completion date.
Read the next review, compare your sale documents, and ask written questions where the records leave something unresolved.
For a separate part of your buying or selling preparation, use the home value tool.
Common questions
Where is the Cooper Drum Superfund site?
The facility is at 9316 South Atlantic Avenue in South Gate. EPA's definition also includes the downgradient area along Rayo Avenue and south of Southern Avenue to McCallum Avenue.
Was EPA's second Five-Year Review posted when this guide was written?
No report had appeared on the EPA site page as of October 21, 2026. The page still described the review as under way, with completion due no later than September 30, 2026.
What did EPA's 2021 review conclude?
EPA called the remedy currently protective of human health and the environment, while finding that the groundwater remedy was not functioning as intended and identifying work needed for long-term protectiveness.
Does the restrictive covenant discussed by EPA apply to nearby homes?
The covenant discussed in the 2021 review concerns the Cooper Drum property itself. That review said it had not been recorded; it does not establish a covenant on a nearby home.
