Grand Ronde Confederate Tribes won an $800,000 grant from the EPA to begin evaluating the industry’s track record on land near Willamette Falls.

Grand Ronde Confederate tribes have hired Stantec, a global engineering and design firm based in Canada, for the first phase of rehabilitation of the former Blue Heron paper mill near Oregon City.

According to Stantec’s partnership announcement, the company worked with the tribe to secure an $800,000 investment from the Environmental Protection Agency in May 2021 through epa’s Brownfields multipurpose grant program. The tribe will have access to cash later this year, when the agency begins the fiscal year.

“The multipurpose grant is a fantastic grant to get because it allows you to use the EPA budget for the overall work of assessing and studying brownfields, but also for cleanup and remediation work,” says Ryan Webb, chief of engineering and planmaking. for tribal government.

According to Webb, Stantec will work with the tribe to evaluate the site and also initiate a cleanup. The duration of the grant is five years and Webb anticipates that the research phase will take two to three years.

Stantec also says it has partnered with the professional firm Akana and Hart Crowser, a Haley, Native American-owned apartment based in Portland.

The EPA defines an abandoned industrial zone as “an asset whose expansion, redevelopment, or reuse would possibly be confusing due to the presence or possible presence of a hazardous, polluting, or polluting substance. “

The land in question has been used for industry for more than a hundred years, at most recently as the site of the Blue Heron paper mill, which closed in 2011 and demolished last fall after the tribe bought it in 2019. Before the arrival of White settlers, the land, and near Willamette Falls, which is one of the largest waterfalls in the country, a sacred fishing site for the indigenous peoples of the Northwest.

Prior to the tribal government’s acquisition of the land, local governments had announced plans for a pedestrian bridge but had not consulted with Native American tribes about the project. you must first conduct an environmental assessment. ” The tribe is currently exploring the highest and most productive uses for the property, however, its current status limits the tribe’s potential economic opportunities and Portland’s surrounding metropolitan domain,” stantec’s press release said.

Webb also says the tribe had already begun assessing the property’s environmental pollution after the land was purchased in 2019 and is aware of contaminants in the soil; however, this EPA grant will allow engineers to conduct additional research.

“We are running to be competitive when it comes to these paintings, as public health and protection are, in fact, one of our highest priorities on the ground. It’s very important that we finish these paintings as soon as possible,” says Carrie Rackey, Project Manager at Stantec.

The tribe also plans for the continued involvement of netpaintings in the task, says Stacia Hernandez, leader of the Grand Ronde Confederate tribes. “Hernandez says. ” It’s definitely a precedent for us, and we’re pleased to be at home. “

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