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.
Program components
The Environmental Cleanup Program incorporates several sub-programs: Site Assessment, Voluntary Cleanup, Independent Cleanup, Brownfields, 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 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.
Older resource documents
The following guidance documents are available via State Library of Oregon.
Notes: On the state library website, click on the ‘download’ icon under tools to download electronic versions of the documents. These documents may contain outdated address and contact information and do not conform with current accessibility standards.