Summary Information
(last updated on: 6/22/2023 11:09:01 AM)
The United States Postal Service (USPS) constructed a Processing & Distribution Center (P&DC) at this site in 1962. The P&DC operated at the site until 2018, and processed all outgoing mail for the state of Oregon. The site had originally been developed as a railyard in the early 1880s, with railcar repair and cleaning on the west side of the site and freight depots on the east side. A manufactured gas plant was present on the northwest corner of the site, at NW 9th & Lovejoy, from 1893 to 1934, producing compressed gas for lighting passenger rail coaches.
Six underground storage tanks, some of which had leaked, were removed from the USPS P&DC site in 1992 and 1993. Petroleum-contaminated soils were also identified during excavations for an electrical utility vault in 1996 and 1997. DEQ added the site to the ECSI database in 1998, and the USPS signed a Voluntary Cleanup Agreement with DEQ in December 1999. An Intergovernmental Agreement was signed in May 2003.
A Remedial Investigation was completed under DEQ oversight in April 2006, followed by a Feasibility Study in June 2008. DEQ completed a Staff Report in April 2010 and issued a Record of Decision in July 2010. DEQ determined that soils on the western half of the site were impacted, mostly by petroleum, and that groundwater in the northwest corner of the site had also been impacted. However, there were no unacceptable risks to human health or the environment, so long as the site remained capped by buildings and asphalt. A deed restriction requiring annual inspections and maintenance of the building and asphalt cap was recorded on the site in October 2011, and DEQ issued a Conditional No Further Action for the site in September 2012.
In May 2016, the Portland Development Commission (PDC, now known as Prosper Portland) entered into a Prospective Purchaser Agreement (PPA) with DEQ. The PDC agreed to purchase the site and clean up gross contamination before selling off individual parcels for redevelopment. Final cleanup of each parcel would be conducted under a Master Remedial Action Work Plan included with the PPA.
USPS relocated their operations to a new facility near Portland International Airport in 2018. (See ECSI #5890). An initial remedial action, primarily excavating contaminated soils, was conducted at the north end of the site from August to October 2020. Phase 2 of the remedial action, excavating contaminated soils from around the electrical utility vault, was conducted in the fall of 2022. Demolition of the P&DC building began in February 2023.
| Site: |
US Postal Service Processing & Distribution Center (ECSI Site ID: 2183) |
CERCLIS (EPA) Id | |
| Project Manager: |
Kevin Dana |
Investigative Status: | Listed on the Confirmed Release List or Inventory |
| PM Phone: |
(503) 229-5369
|
NPL(National Priority Listing): | No |
| Address: |
715 NW Hoyt St. |
Is this site an Orphan? | No |
| Portland,
97209 |
Is this site a brownfield? | Yes |
| County: |
MULTNOMAH |
Action Underway or Needed: |
REMEDIAL ACTION |
| Region: |
Northwest Region |
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NOTE: This site has one or more long-term controls designed to manage site risks.
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