A brownfield is land that is vacant or underused because of contamination.
Scores of properties sit vacant because of real or perceived contamination. Some of these were once gas stations, auto repair shops or other businesses that used petroleum-related chemicals with long-term environmental impacts. Others were large industrial operations.
Contamination, or the perception of contamination, can deter investment, leaving important land for jobs and housing vacant. Metro provides funding to conduct environmental site assessments to help determine whether contaminants are present. Metro also provides technical assistance to support the removal of contaminants.
Through this assistance, Metro helps transform sites that have been vacant into neighborhood assets like affordable housing, businesses and other uses. Cleaning up and finding new uses for these brownfields helps create healthier communities and a stronger economy.
Through a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, Metro offers financial assistance to property owners, potential buyers or developers to conduct assessments on properties that are or may be brownfields. The brownfields program ensures compliance with EPA standards and strong stewardship of resources, and is overseen by an internal project manager who monitors and tracks all expenditures and site work on behalf of the grant. Additionally, the program has outside oversight through an assigned Region 10 EPA Project Officer, and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s Northwest Region Brownfield Coordinator.
If you suspect a property in your community has contamination issues, contact [email protected]. Metro will reach out to the property owner to see how we can help.
Property owners
Interested in finding out more about your property’s environmental status? Funds are available to assess possible contamination issues on your property. Banks and other lending institutions typically require environmental due diligence prior to underwriting real estate loans. Understanding the condition of your property is important for future property sales.
Potential buyers or developers
Interested in purchasing a property for development, either within the McLoughlin Corridor and/or for the purposes of affordable housing? You can apply for help with the preliminary environmental assessment. Funds can also assist in planning to address how the possible contamination will be dealt with during redevelopment.
Two types of brownfields grants
The affordable housing grant provides financial assistance for site assessments on properties that may become affordable housing. The McLoughlin grant (active through March 2021) covered site assessments for properties in the McLoughlin Corridor, regardless of intended use.