Portland Selects Five Brownfields
For Redevelopment
Portland, OR
fter extensive work with the community to identify potential
brownfields sites, the City of Portland, Oregon selected five sites for
cleanup and redevelopment. The selection of these sites was one of the
first steps toward redevelopment efforts that had been underway from
the time of the city's EPA Showcase Community designation in 1998.
Showcase Communities are selected by the Brownfields National
Partnership to demonstrate that through cooperation, federal, state, local,
and private efforts can be concentrated around brownfields to restore
these sites, stimulate economic development, and revitalize communities.
Showcase Communities serve as models for broad-based cooperative
efforts to support locally based initiatives. Showcases receive up to
$400,000 from EPA for both environmental assessments and to support
the loan of a federal employee to the Showcase for up to three years.
Showcase Communities receive additional financial and technical support
from the Partnership's more than 20 federal partners, depending on the
community need and program eligibility.
Following the Showcase Community designation, the Portland Brownfield
Showcase Policy Committee was formed, a 20-member board that
includes stakeholders from throughout the city representing diverse
interests in redevelopment. Committee members include local
government representatives, community outreach specialists, the director
of the Portland Urban League, and the director of the Environmental
Justice Action Group. The city has also made community outreach
efforts a top priority in implementing its Showcase Communities grant,
doing its best to keep citizens from low-income neighborhoods involved in
brownfields reuse decisions. A separate Showcase Community Steering
Committee was formed that includes representatives from neighborhoods
in the northeastern area of the city affected by brownfields.
Neighborhood meetings and Brownfields Showcase Community
workshops also helped to keep citizens involved.
One of the five brownfields selected by the city for redevelopment is a
former battery recycling facility that sat vacant for a number of years
with unknown levels of lead contamination. The site was chosen as the
new location of the Port City Development Center, a nonprofit
organization that provides training for developmentally challenged
individuals. Removal of lead contamination from the site is now
complete. When redevelopment is finished, this new center will provide
services in the areas of job training, work placement, art programs, and
residential living skills to those with developmental disabilities.
continued
One of Portland's brownfields targeted for
redevelopment (right side of picture).
JUST THE FACTS:
• The Portland Brownfield Showcase
Policy Committee is a 20-member
board that includes stakeholders from
throughout the city representing
diverse interests in redevelopment.
• One of the city's brownfields
projects, a former gas station that
became a 5,000-square-foot office
building, received a "Business for an
Environmentally Sustainable
Tomorrow" award.
• Another brownfield targeted by the
city for redevelopment will eventually
become a community-funded and
-maintained recreation area for local
residents to enjoy.
One of the five brownfields
selected by the city for
redevelopment is a former battery
recycling facility that sat vacant for a
number of years with unknown levels of
lead contamination. The site was chosen
as the new location of the Port City
Development Center, which will provide
services in the areas of job training, work
placement, art programs, and residential
living skills to those with developmental
disabilities.
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CONTACTS:
For more information on EPA's Showcase
Communities, contact Tony Raia of OSWER's
Office of Brownfields Cleanup and
Redevelopment at (202) 566-2758
Or visit EPA's Brownfields Website at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Though preliminary assessments of the former battery recycling site had been performed, a final
assessment was funded by EPA's Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot grant (which preceded
the Showcase designation). Along the way, Showcase Community staff provided technical assistance to
the site's owner. Multnomah County issued a $2 million bond to fund site improvements,
and the McCarthy Building Company has to date donated more than $50,000 in
construction services toward completion of the project.
Another of the five targeted brownfields is a former gas station that has been
redeveloped into a 5,000-square-foot office building. The site's
transformation was recognized by the city with a "Business for an
Environmentally Sustainable Tomorrow" (BEST) award. The owners are
currently in the process of obtaining a No Further Action (NFA) letter
from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ). The
site is now occupied by a coffee shop and an historic restoration
contractor, and additional office space is available for lease.
ODEQ has issued an NFA letter to another of Portland's five targeted
brownfields, the Delta Sigma site, also a former gas station. Delta Sigma
Theta Sorority, Inc., a community-based nonprofit organization, plans to develop
the site into senior housing and space for retail, community services, and senior
daycare. The sorority participated in the Development Opportunities Strategy (DOS)
program, which assists property owners, tenants, and developers in evaluating project feasibility by
providing funding and real estate development expertise. Based on DOS recommendations, the sorority
is looking for funding to enable the project's completion.
Another brownfield targeted by the city for redevelopment is a site that will eventually become a
community-funded and -maintained recreation area for local residents to enjoy. "These projects are
what make the Showcase project worthwhile," remarked Portland's Mayor, Vera Katz, who also serves
as co-chair of the Brownfields Showcase Policy Committee. "There are a number of small sites in
North and Northeast that have stayed vacant and neglected for too long. But now, we have the
opportunity to help redevelop the lots, and hopefully serve as a catalyst that will bring new jobs and new
life to the neighborhood."
One of the community outreach programs developed following the Showcase Community designation is
the North/Northeast Brownfields Community Advisory Committee (CAC). This committee has been
key in encouraging citizen involvement in Portland's brownfields efforts through outreach, education,
and public meetings. The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon, which also
received an EPA Brownfields Assessment Pilot in 1998, used the CAC to help identify sites to be
assessed under its own Pilot program. Portland Commissioner Charlie Hales acknowledges its
importance: "It's great to see the community forming partnerships to return abandoned and polluted
sites to productive use. No neighborhood should be left on its own to cope with the consequences of a
polluter's mess." Portland's community-based decision-making process has been so successful that
CAC members have been invited to present at several conferences nationwide. As CAC Chair Warren
Fluker stated, "Through the combined efforts of the CAC and our local government partners, we have
made several solid gains and produced a model of citizen involvement. We know we are headed in a
positive direction."
Portland's Brownfield Showcase Program (PBS) continues its pursuit of urban revitalization. In May
2002, EPA awarded Portland's Brownfields Assessment Pilot $200,000 in supplemental funding for
environmental site assessments and cleanup planning in the North Macadam district, a 130-acre
riverfront property historically used for industrial purposes. PBS also continues to work with the North/
Northeast Portland community on education, assessment, and resource development regarding the city's
brownfields.
Brownfields Success Story
Portland, OR
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-02-162
December 2002
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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