Brownfields Update for the Pacific Northwest

When describing EPA Region 10, one word seems to repeatedly pop up: diverse.

Take its geography. The region ranges from ocean coastline to rugged mountain ranges, from temperate rainforests to high deserts. Add in Alaska’s Muskeg and Tundra ecosystems, and you’ve got a little bit of everything.

Made up of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington, Region 10 is diverse in other ways too. For example, it has more federally recognized tribal governments than any other area of the country. Nowhere else even comes close. Region 10 also has a high number of endangered species, an issue this region has had to address more than any other region. With this diversity comes a broad range of cultural and social issues.

All these factors mean the region has one of the greatest arrays of potential brownfield sites and issues, says Brooks Stanfield, EPA brownfields project manager.

“Don’t get me wrong, I think some other regions face similar difficulties, more I’m sure than I can appreciate,” Stanfield says. “But I think our region can boast some degree of distinctiveness in the breadth of what we face.”

Perhaps most distinctive to the region is its wide range in geographical and environmental conditions. Because of this, the timing in getting projects done can be complicated, says Susan Morales, EPA brownfields project manager. Officials are planning projects around such factors as weather conditions, transportation issues and accessibility. When a barge delivers goods to an area only once a month, that can be a major factor in a project. It can be expensive working in some of the more remote areas. The region also has an enormous number of rural communities, which often times don’t have the money or manpower to redevelop a brownfield site.

With the diverse geography comes a region with a rich and varied past, which includes the timber, mining and seafood industries, Morales says. These industries have historic value in their communities. While the region has its share of industrial areas, the West’s industrial history started later. It has a legacy of contamination, but not like some larger metropolitan areas in other parts of the nation, she says.

The region also has a high number of endangered species, which can be an important factor when federal funding is involved. EPA has to consult with other federal natural resource agencies to make sure the project doesn’t harm any member of an endangered species. “We’ve had to work to start to address that, and no other region has had to,” Morales says.

With the high numbers of endangered species, habitat protection is particularly important to this region. Stanfield points to the salmon issue in the Pacific Northwest. The EPA has provided technical assistance and funds to local governments and tribes addressing contamination and restoring habitat along rivers and ocean shorelines, he says.

Morales believes the focus on the environment is more holistic in this region. When redeveloping a brownfield site, returning property to the tax base isn’t the only issue; often, a community is concerned with adding more green space. “They’re a little more progressive on the bigger picture,” Morales says.

Region 10 also has 271 federally recognized tribes. Idaho has four tribes, Oregon has nine, Washington has 29 and Alaska has 229. That’s important because different governments come into play when you add tribal government to the mix, Morales says. A tribe also brings unique cultural concerns, often another language and subsistence issues. All may influence the type of redevelopment that’s needed.

Because some tribes depend on subsistence activities, such as hunting on tribal lands or fishing, they’re more susceptible to exposure to contaminants than non-subsistence communities if the environment from which they gather most of their food is compromised, Stanfield says. “In this regard, rural Alaska presents some really unique challenges because of things like their lack of adequate solid waste disposal systems,” he says. “Problems like this, compounded by their remoteness, present challenges and opportunities for the Region 10 team. Just getting the word out to Alaska communities about what assistance tools we provide is an ongoing effort.”

With the diverse nature of Region 10 comes a diverse group of brownfield projects. The region has its share of urban areas with classic industrial sites. From these sites have come mixed-use, commercial-residential buildings; affordable housing and even new industrial operations. In rural areas, the EPA has worked with gas stations, mill sites and smaller commercial and industrial sites. One former apple orchard in Wenatchee, Wash., was redeveloped into a public park. “We’ve seen sites get redeveloped into parks and green spaces as well as public buildings, community centers and housing (projects),” Stanfield says.

Some regional examples of brownfields projects include an electroplating facility in Portland that was turned into a mixed-used, commercial and residential building called the Sellwood Lofts. In Caldwell, Idaho, a project is assessing a significant portion of the downtown in an attempt to daylight a creek that was previously buried. The redevelopment vision includes commercial and residential space and public open space that’s all anchored by the day-lighted creek.

An example of a unique rural project is the Coastal Range Food Bank in Nashville, Ore. The EPA is providing money to help clean up an old gas station after the food bank’s former building burned down (see related story below). Another project is the work the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality has been doing with the Linen District in downtown Boise. There, developers are renovating historical buildings to create a mix of commercial office space, local and regional retail stores, and an urban residential area. In Spokane, Wash., the development Kendall Yards has received an EPA brownfields loan of $2.4 million, the largest such loan ever. Developers there are turning a 77-acre former railway maintenance complex into an urban neighborhood, complete with stores and housing for more than 200 families.

It’s this diversity throughout Region 10 that should be celebrated. Many here are looking to the future with the same vision that built the region.

“I think it still has some of that ‘Go Out West’ mentality,” Morales says. “There are still many things to discover, things to try.”