Environmental Cleanup

DEQ's Environmental Cleanup Section protects human health and the environment by identifying, investigating, and remediating sites contaminated with hazardous substances. The Cleanup Section's objective is to guide all sites to No-Further-Action (NFA) determinations as quickly and inexpensively as possible. DEQ has issued over 1,000 NFAs since 1994, some of which include institutional or engineering controls to manage site risks.

Risk-Based Approach
Operating under statutes/rules designed to prevent unacceptable exposure risks, the Cleanup Section uses risk-assessment tools to develop site-specific cleanup levels. These levels depend on the nature and extent of contamination, current and reasonably likely future uses of land and water, and related factors.

Cleanup Section Components
The Environmental Cleanup Section incorporates Site Assessment, Voluntary Cleanup, Independent Cleanup, Brownfields, Dry Cleaners, Orphans, and Site Response. DEQ offers Prospective Purchaser Agreements to address environmental liability concerns associated with property transactions. For information on these programs, click on the links to the left.

DEQ has a separate program for investigating and cleaning up petroleum releases from underground storage tanks. There is also an Emergency Response Program to oversee short-term cleanups of chemical spills resulting from accidents or natural disasters.

• Environmental Cleanup Site Information (ECSI) database
  • Cleanup Sites with Individual Web Pages
    List of sites in the Environmental Cleanup Program with their own web pages. DEQ creates these pages for certain sites that may have significant public interest, or for which a multimedia format is the best way to convey site information.
• Environmental Cleanup Work Group
  DEQ has convened the Environmental Cleanup Work Group to request advice on the state's environmental cleanup program.
• Priorities and Performance Measures for 2008
• Shipping Transport of Aquatic Invasive Species (STAIS)
  This page is devoted to the STAIS Task Force, which includes posting meeting notes and agendas for upcoming meetings.
• Strategic Plan

General Program Information

• Annual Environmental Cleanup Report to Legislature PDF
• Fact sheets
• Forms
• Guidance documents, policies and templates
  • Guidance documents for public review
  • Guidance for Evaluating the Stormwater Pathway at Upland Sites
• Invoicing for Cleanup Program Costs
• Registration Requirements for Geologists and Engineers
  • Oregon State Board of Geologist Examiners
  • Oregon State Board of Examiners

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