First  “Green Street” in Los Angeles is Completed
A National Model of Sustainability That Cleans Water Before Entering the Los Angeles River

LOS ANGELES, CA – North East Trees and Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti, joined by project partners and the neighbors, officially dedicated the first “Green Street” in Los Angeles on Oros Street at the Los Angeles River in Elysian Valley. 

The Oros Green Street Project was designed to capture stormwater runoff from private homes and a residential street and clean it through a series of soil filtration and vegetative bioretention treatments before it ever gets into the Los Angeles River, while simultaneously improving and beautifying a neighborhood with new infrastructure and greenscape. It is an eco-friendly and innovative model of sustainability that manages and cleans storm and dry weather runoff and pollutants that traditionally went directly to the stormwater system (or the Los Angeles River).

“This project marks the first time that a neighborhood can say that it is contributing no pollutants to the Los Angeles River because the Oros Green Street Project will clean water from this neighborhood before it enters the River” said Larry Smith, Executive Director of North East Trees.  “This project is the new gold standard for how North East Trees and our project partners can transform and complete the cycle of restoring nature’s services in an urban environment.”

“We need green streets to have a clean river,” said Council President Eric Garcetti.  “Today we’re demonstrating that a major goal of the LA River Revitalization Master Plan is within our reach, thanks to the collaboration between our city and North East Trees.” 

The Oros Green Street Project was a collaboration mobilized by North East Trees with the City of Los Angeles, county, state and federal agencies as well as neighborhood resident stakeholders. 
It was funded through grants and services from the California Water Quality Control Board (over $500,000) and the City of Los Angeles’ Proposition O Bond Act ($385,000) with close coordination and services from the Los Angeles Department of Public Works, Bureau of Street Services, Bureau of Sanitation and Bureau of Engineering.  This project also marks the first Proposition O-funded project to be completed.

North East Trees is a nonprofit environmental and youth education organization with a mission “to restore nature’s services to improve the quality of life in resource-challenged communities.  Founded nearly 20 years ago, North East Trees has planted over 30,000 trees, created over 35 pocket parks and other landscape improvements along the Los Angeles River and engaged, trained and employed thousands of local youth to achieve this mission.