United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, D.C. 20460 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5101) EPA 500-F-97-029 May 1997 National Brownfields Assessment Pilot Portland, OR Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101) Quick Reference Fact Sheet EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower States, communities, and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. Between 1995 and 1996, EPA funded 76 National and Regional Brownfields Assessment Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of brownfields solutions. EPAis funding morethan 27 Pilots in 1997. The Pilots are intended to provide EPA, States, Tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment. BACKGROUND EPA selected the City of Portland for a Brownfields Pilot. As the State's oldest and largest industrial, shipping, and commercial center, Portland has a high concentration of abandoned or under-used properties surrounding the City' s Enterprise Community where unemployment is 10.4% and the poverty rate is 35%. The threat of contamination and liability has limited reuse and redevelopment atthese sites while suburban sprawl continues. The City estimates that 484 sites have confirmed contamination and over 600 sites have suspected contamination. OBJECTIVES The Portland Pilot is working to encourage economic growth and redevelopment at specific sites within the Enterprise Community and along the waterfront while protecting the environment, especially the Willamette River. Redevelopment of the urban waterfront will promote productive land use, reduce air and water pollution associated with urban sprawl, and expand job opportunities in locations accessible to low- income populations. To satisfy these objectives, environmental site assessments must be conducted and incentives and disincentives identified and evalu- ated for redevelopment. PILOT SNAPSHOT Portland, Oregon Date of Award: March 1996 Amount: $200,000 Site Profile: The Pilot targets several hundred abandoned or underused sites with varied levels of contamination, located within Portland's Enterprise Community and along the waterfront. Contacts: Douglas MacCourt Office of Transportation Portland, OR (503) 823-7052 Lori Cohen U.S. EPA-Region 10 (206) cohen.lori@epamail.epa.gov Chip Humphrey U.S. EPA-Region 10, Oregon Operations (503) 326-2678 humphrey.chip® epamail.epa.gov Visit the EPA Brownfields Website at: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields ------- AND The Pilot has: * Held a scries of five workshops in Portland's two target communities to identify barriers, opportunities, and potential solutions to redeveloping brownfields. Issues and strategies identified in the workshops are being incorporated into "Brownfields Action Plans." which include strategies for creating public-private partnerships, developing new funding sources, and streamlining cleanup; and • Developed "Brownfields Online,"' a user-friendly World Wide Web site. The site is available on the Internet at http://www.brownfield.org. The site provides access to all working documents related to the Portland project, including meeting schedules and fact sheets, and features links to other Pilot cities, EPA and other brownfield homepages. The Pilot is: * Co-sponsoring a series of advanced brownfields seminars to focus on the latest developments in cleaning up contaminated properties and returning the properties to productive use. Presentations will include financing and funding, lender liability, cleanup strategics, land use and growth manage- ment, and case studies of successful local and na- tional projects; * Crafting neighborhood-specific partnership agree- ments for assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment activities; * Conducting education and information exchange on brownfields issues to inform and involve citizens; and * Creating outreach opportunities for schools and civic associations to raise awareness and promote redevelopment. Experience with the Portland Pilot has been a catalyst for related activities including the following. • Focusing brownfields efforts and resources on sites within the Enterprise Community. National Brownfields Assessment Pilot Portland, Oregon May 1997 EPA 500-F-97-029 ------- |