On May 19, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced that it has entered into a prospective purchaser agreement with the Portland Botanical Gardens for the future redevelopment of a 59-acre Superfund site in North Portland. The agreement aims to support the beneficial reuse of the property while ensuring the environmental cleanup remedy remains protective of human health and the environment. The approved plan will develop botanical gardens, roughly 10 acres of public green space and river access, a connection to the Willamette River Greenway Trail, and educational and research spaces.
An industrial wood treatment facility operated on this property from 1944 to 1991, contaminating the land and water with creosote, metals, and other contaminants. DEQ and U.S. EPA oversaw a $70M cleanup of the property that was completed in 2005.
DEQ’s prospective purchaser agreement program was created in 1995 through amendments to Oregon’s environmental cleanup law. These agreements expedite the cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated properties that might otherwise remain vacant or underused because of environmental liabilities associated with purchasing contaminated sites.
