Vancouver environmental cleanup project moves forward

Project designed to support local property owners in determining whether soil groundwater or building materials on their land might be contaminated with potentially hazardous materials

VANCOUVER – The city of Vancouver, in partnership with Clark County Public Health and the Vancouver Housing Authority, has advanced its Brownfields Assessment Project to support local property owners in determining whether soil groundwater or building materials on their land might be contaminated with potentially hazardous materials, like oil, gasoline, mercury, lead and other harmful substances. 

The city has hired Maul Foster & Alongi, Inc. to implement a three-year $600,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help further the city’s commitment to environmental stewardship and safety.

Brownfields is a term used by the EPA to describe land that may be difficult to develop or reuse because of past contamination from hazardous materials. Local property owners can now contact the project team to see if their properties qualify for grant-funded environmental site assessments.

Grant funds can be used county-wide but will be concentrated in the project’s focus area around Fourth Plain Boulevard between Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 to support the city and county’s ongoing initiatives related to equitable development and healthy living.

If you think your property might be contaminated and would like to see if you qualify for a grant-funded site assessment, please contact Shannon Williams, associate planner at shannon.williams@cityofvancouver.us or (360) 487-7898. The community is also invited to visit the City’s new project webpage, www.beheardvancouver.org/brownfields, to learn more about brownfields and sign up to receive project updates by email. 

Later this year, the project team will start area-wide assessment and cleanup plans for at least one identified property in the focus area. Community members will be invited to help create an overall vision for what the space could become in the future. Other future site cleanup plans may follow.

Information provided by city of Vancouver.