Environmental Cleanup

DEQ's Environmental Cleanup Program protects human health and the environment by identifying, investigating, and remediating sites contaminated with hazardous substances. The program's objective is to improve sites to the point where no further cleanup action is necessary - as inexpensively and quickly as possible.

Cleanup Program Improvements DEQ’s Environmental Cleanup Program is in the midst of several improvements, based on an outcome-based management approach and in response to customer feedback. Overview of outcome-based management objectives and activities in the cleanup program Fact Sheet: DEQ Cleanup Program Improvements for 2013 Stakeholder Survey of cleanup program (November 2012)

Program Components
The Environmental Cleanup Program incorporates several sub-programs: 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. There is also an Emergency Response Program to oversee short-term cleanups of chemical spills resulting from accidents or natural disasters. For information on these programs, click on the links to the left.

The program also includes a separate program for investigating and cleaning up petroleum releases from underground storage tanks.

Risk-Based Approach
Operating under statutes/rules designed to prevent unacceptable exposure risks, the program 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.

• Legislative Information
  • Annual Environmental Cleanup Report to Legislature
• Environmental Cleanup Site Information database
  ECSI is an electronic database that DEQ uses to track sites with known, suspected, or cleaned-up hazardous substance contamination.
  • Cleanup Sites with Individual Web Pages
    List of sites in the Environmental Cleanup Program with their own web pages. These pages are for certain sites that may have significant public interest.
• Shipping Transport of Aquatic Invasive Species

General Program Information

• Invoicing for Cleanup Program Costs
• Green Remediation
• Registration Requirements for Geologists and Engineers
  • Oregon State Board of Geologist Examiners
  • Oregon State Board of Examiners
• Resources
  • Fact sheets
  • Forms
  • Guidance documents, policies and templates
    • Guidance documents for public review

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