Environmental Cleanup Site Information Database 

The Confirmed Release List and Inventory:
Informing the Public about Hazardous Substance Sites

This page describes the Confirmed Release List and the Inventory of Hazardous Substance Sites (Inventory) and explains their relationship to the Environmental Cleanup Site Information System. Maintained by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, these lists provide information on sites with known or suspected releases of hazardous substances.

NOTE: For up-to-date lists of sites on the CRL and Inventory, see the link at the bottom of this page.

ECSI, CRL, and Inventory

One of DEQ's most basic tasks is keeping track of information about individual hazardous substance release sites. To help meet this need, ECSI was created. It is an electronic database that is available to the public and has a wide range of information about sites in Oregon with suspected or known releases of hazardous substances, as well as sites that DEQ has determined require no further action. (ECSI generally excludes sites with petroleum releases from underground storage tanks). ECSI contains information on over 3,000 sites in Oregon.

The CRL is a subset of ECSI and includes sites where a release of hazardous substances has been documented. Sites may be added to the CRL at any time after such a release has been verified. There is a formal process, described in more detail below, by which sites are added to and removed from the CRL.

Some sites on the CRL are also on the Inventory, a list of sites where confirmed releases pose threats to human health or the environment and require further investigation/cleanup. DEQ can add a site to the Inventory only after a preliminary assessment or preliminary assessment equivalent has been completed to evaluate such threats. The same formal processes for listing and de-listing sites on the CRL apply to the Inventory. The characteristic that distinguishes Inventory sites from CRL-only sites is the degree of knowledge that DEQ has about on-site contamination and the threats it may pose to human and environmental receptors.

The Listing Process

DEQ adds sites to the CRL and Inventory when it determines they meet the criteria for listing:

CRL Criteria
To be added to the CRL, a site must have had a release of a hazardous substance that is confirmed by meeting both of the following criteria:

The release has been documented by qualified observation, owner/operator admission or laboratory data; and

The release is not excluded from listing by virtue of being insignificant in quantity or hazard, regulated by another program, having been adequately cleaned up or otherwise requiring no further action.
Once listed on the CRL, a site typically has a PA or PAE completed. A PA or PAE provides an in-depth review of a site’s operating history and potential extent of contamination, and describes ways in which site contamination could affect human health and the environment.

Inventory Criteria
DEQ adds sites to the Inventory where further investigation is required or where removal, remedial action, or engineering or institutional controls are needed to protect human health or the environment. Sites are added to the Inventory based on data from a PA or PAE approved or conducted by DEQ and any other available information.

Procedure for CRL and Inventory Listing
Before adding a site to either the CRL or the Inventory, DEQ notifies site owners and operators of the agency's intent to list and allows them to submit comments or provide additional information they think might be relevant to the listing decision. Owners and operators have 45 days to comment, a period that can be extended by an additional 45 days upon request. Sometimes a meeting will be held during the comment period to further discuss issues bearing on the listing decision. Comments or new information may show that the site does not in fact meet listing criteria. In any event, after 45 (or 90) days, DEQ sends a listing decision letter to owners and operators, incorporating responses to any comments submitted.

De-listing Sites
DEQ removes sites from the CRL and Inventory when all necessary investigation or other remedial action has been completed and after a public-comment period. Alternatively, an owner, operator or other person may petition the Director to remove a facility from the list(s). DEQ will consider the same criteria under which the site was listed in reaching a decision about de-listing a site. The period for public comment on a proposal to de-list a site is at least 30 days and may be extended under certain circumstances.

Some site cleanups incorporate engineering or institutional controls. For example, after removal of some contaminated soil from a site, measures such as an engineered cap or a deed restriction may be required to ensure long-term protection of human health and the environment. By law, sites at which DEQ selects or approves such controls as part of a cleanup must remain on the CRL and Inventory, even where DEQ has made a no-further-action determination.

Obtaining Lists of Sites on the CRL and Inventory

• Current listings of CRL and Inventory sites.

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