The Cal Poly pier at Avila was originally a wooden pier built in 1914 by the Pacific Coast Railway Co. The pier was formerly used to ship dry goods until later in 1922 when it became the world’s largest crude oil shipping port. Unocal purchased the pier in 1941, just in time to supply the Pacific Fleet with oil for World War II. The wooden pier was demolished by the winter’s storms in 1983. Unocal spent $27 million to rebuild the structure in 1984 and continued to operate until the mid-1990s. Front Street, a section of the city of Avila, was discovered to be contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbon in 1988.

They believe the pollution increased between the 1920s and 1970s from a pipeline leak connecting the Unocal pier to a nearby tank farm and fuel storage area. As a result, Unocal has been dedicated to help clean up the oil spill with multiple projects.

Unocal began their environmental cleanup efforts by removing much of downtown Avila in efforts to eliminate the underground oil contamination. The beach was closed off and the contaminated soil was excavated and backfilled with clean soil. The last of the cleanup efforts was the Front Street Enhancement Project Project which began in 1999 and was completed in 2001.

Additional efforts of Unocal included their purchase of the Avila Beach water district’s state water supply and endorsing activities to increase business in the area. On November 29, 2001, Unocal donated their pier to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo for the establishment of a marine science education and research center. The university's College of Science and Mathematics will operate the pier. Unocal has also endowed Cal Poly with $3.5 million for the maintenance and operation of the facility. With the education provided , the pier is worth $18.5 million in value. The pier is the only marine research center between Santa Barbara and Monterey and the only one in the nation to provide undergraduates with a marine education program.

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