Port of Hood River — Former Lumber Mill Brownfield

An industrial property with an 80-year history of lumber mill operations including a backfilled lumber pond (which was later used for heavy-equipment storage and repair) became available for purchase. The Property was listed in the DEQ’s Leaking Underground Storage Tank Program and Environmental Cleanup (ECSI) Program as a suspect site requiring further investigation. The historical operations may have impacted subsurface soils and groundwater, and degrading logs submerged in the log pond could discharge leachate into the nearby creek that was home to endangered species.

Both the property owner (the responsible party) and the purchaser had limited funds to contamination and conduct the site redevelopment issues.

We began our work with a detailed Phase I ESA to identify all the environmental conditions. We also reviewed mill files for environmental insurance policies that could help with funding.

Recognized for our professional integrity, Coles + Betts assisted our client with the property transaction and worked for both parties’ interests. In addition, we helped the Port write the RFP for the geotechnical and log pond excavation.

The Port was awarded a brownfield grant from Oregon Brownfield Cleanup program to pay for Phase II ESA and remediation activities. These activities included tank decommissioning oversight, shallow contaminated soil characterization and disposal options, oversight of log pond excavation activities, and confirmatory sampling. Time was of the essence, and Coles + Betts prepared a list of grant-required Brownfield reports on a fast-track timeline.

Our professional assistance and technical oversight of both DEQ activities and UST decommissioning kept costs under control. In addition, our work prevents the former log-pond leachate from impacting nearby surface water bodies. As a result, the Port of Hood River has an environmentally sound site ready to bring new jobs to the community to improve the local economy.