Beneficial Use Determinations

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​Portland Harbor Holdings, Inc. is conducting a project to restore the natural habitat at the former Alder Creek Lumber property on Sauvie Island. DEQ has approved a beneficial use determination that allows PHH to place lightly contaminated excavated soils from the project in an upland area that will then be planted as forest.

Beneficial Use Determination

• Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation Form
• Application

Additional Information

Technical Memorandum, May 4, 2012: Soil Screening Methods

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• Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation form
• Application

• ​​Beneficial Use Determination 
• Evaluation form
• Application

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​DEQ has approved a beneficial use determination to allow Clean Water Services to reuse street sweepings fines as non-residential construction fill, utility trench fill, and non-residential landscaping fill, such as roadway median strips.

Clean Water Services is the public water management district in Washington County. CWS operates under the direction of the Washington County Board of Commissioners.

• ​Beneficial Use Determination
  
• Evaluation checklist
• Application

​DEQ has approved a beneficial use determination that allows Columbia Steel Casting Co. to sell its electric arc furnace steel slag waste material to be beneficially used as non-residential construction fill, utility trench fill or road-base material.

• ​Beneficial Use Determination
  
• Evaluation form
• Application
• Response to public comments

• ​​Beneficial Use Determination 
• Evaluation Form
• Application

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​DEQ has approved a beneficial use determination that allows GP Toledo to apply AgriLime to fields as replacement for traditional agriculture lime.

• Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation form with table
• Application

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• Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation form
• Application

​​DEQ has terminated the American Gypsum Recycling beneficial use determination that allowed AGR to reclaim wallboard waste material and beneficially use the screened and processed material for a variety of beneficial purposes. An updated BUD has been issued that recognizes Neils Jensen’s plan to store and over time, finish processing and use AGR’s abandoned wall board waste as a soil amendment on the farm property.

• Amended Beneficial Use Determination​, Oct. 22, 2022
• Second Amended Beneficial Use Determination, Oct. 9, 2023​
• Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation

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​DEQ has approved a beneficial use determination that allows Lane Forest Products to use composted street sweepings for soil and compost mixes on nonfood-crop agricultural lands applied at or below agronomic rates. Other approved uses include using the material in highway berms and shoulders, and as seeding medium for landfills, highways, and other commercial applications.

Beneficial Use Determination

• Amended Beneficial Use Determination Feb. 14, 2019
• Amended Beneficial Use Determination July 22, 2019
• Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation form with table
• Application

• ​​Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation Form
• Response to Comments
• Application

• ​​Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation Form
• Application

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• Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation form 
• Application

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​DEQ has approved a beneficial use determination that allows the Oregon Department of Transportation to use petroleum contaminated soils found within or adjacent to the Hwy 62 by-pass/Coker Butte overpass as encapsulated road base material.

• Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation form with table
• Application

• Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation form​​

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• Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation Form
• Response to Comments
• Application

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​DEQ has approved a beneficial use determination that allows Oregon Green Pros Freres Lumber to use its biomass wood ash from a co-generation system as a soil additive for use in gardens and landscaping.

• ​Beneficial Use Determination
  
• Evaluation Form
• Application

• ​Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation form

​DEQ has reassigned to Plycem USA, LLC the approved beneficial use determination initially assigned to CertainTeed to allow CertainTeed to use its biomass wood ash from a co-generation system as a soil additive for use in gardens and landscaping.

• ​Beneficial Use Determination
  
• Terminated Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation Form
• Application

​​DEQ has reissued a beneficial use determination that allows the Port of Portland to use dredged sediments from Post Office Bar in the Willamette River as fill material at the West Hayden Island Placement Facility in Portland.

Beneficial Use Determination

• Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation form with table
• Response to public comments
• Verbal transcript
• Written comments
  • Public comments
  • Port of Portland's comments

Public notice documents

• Port of Portland Post Office Bar
  Beneficial use determination application, evaluation memo and approval letter for Port of Portland Post Office Bar
• Willamette River FNC Post Office Bar Reach (RM 2.2) Sediment Quality Evaluation Report
  February 2009, US Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District
• Sediment Screening Tables
• Post Office Bar
• Terminal 5
• Land Use Compatibility Statement
• 401 Water Quality Certification
  • Approval letter
  • Attachment: Evaluation and Findings
  • Attachment B: Antidegradation Worksheet
  • Response to WQ comments received at the 401 WQ Certification public hearing

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​DEQ has approved a beneficial use determination that allows the Port of Portland to use dredged sediments from dredging conducted at Terminal 2, Berths 205 and 206 in the Willamette River. The sediments will be placed as construction fill material at the Port's existing dredge material placement site on West Hayden Island.

Beneficial Use Determination

• Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation form
• Application

Additional documents and information

• Sediment Characterization Report, Terminal 2 - Berths 205 and 206
  Prepared by HartCrowser for Port of Portland, April 10, 2010
• Portland Sediment Evaluation Team memorandum, May 10, 2012

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​DEQ has approved a beneficial use determination that allows the Port of Portland to use dredged sediments from dredging conducted at Terminal 4, Berths 205 and 206 in the Willamette River. The sediments will be placed as construction fill material at the Port's existing dredge material placement site on West Hayden Island.

Beneficial Use Determination

• Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation Form
• Application

Additional Information

• Port of Portland Sediment Report
• Port of Portland Factsheet
• Portland Sediment Evaluation Team Technical Memo

• BUD 1: Port of Portland Terminal 5​
  

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​DEQ has approved a beneficial use determination that allows the Port of Portland to use dredged sediments from dredging conducted at Terminal 6, Berths 601, 603, 604, 605 and 607 in the Columbia River as fill material at the West Hayden Island Placement Facility in Portland for future commercial/industrial development.

Beneficial Use Determination

• Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation form
• Application
• Response to public comments
• Written comments
  • Public comments

Additional documents and information

• Sediment Characterization Report, Terminal 6 - Berths 601 and 607
  Prepared by HartCrowser for Port of Portland, June 12, 2008
• Sediment Characterization Report, Terminal 6 - Berths 603, 604 and 605
  Prepared by HartCrowser for Port of Portland, March 14, 2011
• Project Review Group Memo

​DEQ has approved a beneficial use determination that allows the Port of Portland to place dredged sediments from Terminal 5 at the Port’s dredge material placement site on West Hayden Island.

• Beneficial Use Determination

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​DEQ has approved a beneficial use determination that allows the Port of Toledo to use dredged sediments/spoil to be placed on port-owned level land near dredging area. Disposal will be placed in an upland location, not in water.

• ​Beneficial Use Determination 
• Evaluation
• Application

DEQ has issued the two beneficial use approvals to the Portland Water Bureau. The approvals, conditions for approval and evaluation memos are available to download below:

• Water filtration facility: Beneficial use approval, evaluation and screening table
• Water pipeline: Beneficial use approval, evaluation and screening table

Both applications and associated analytical data indicate that the proposed beneficial uses do meet DEQ's beneficial use requirements. The proposed reuse of soil is productive, and the contaminant concentrations can be managed to acceptable human health and ecological risk levels if the soil is managed according to the proposed conditions of beneficial use approval.

DEQ received comments from 38 commenters during the public comment period. DEQ compiled the comments and responded to them in the document below:

• Read DEQ's response to comments 

For more information, please visit the DEQ Portland Water Bureau beneficial use project page​

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​CRP/FPC Riverscape LLC plans to excavate and transfer approximately 59,600 cubic yards of slightly contaminated soil from its Riverscape redevelopment site in Northwest Portland to the Port of Portland’s Troutdale Reynolds Industrial Park site for use as fill material. The US Environmental Protection Agency has also approved this transfer.

Amendment: DEQ has approved the beneficial use of an additional 1500 cubic yards of soil, subject to the same conditions as the original 59,600 cubic yards.

Beneficial Use Determination

• Beneficial Use Determination Oct. 21, 2013
• Evaluation Form
• Application
• Amendment July 25, 2014
  

Additional Information

• Port of Portland request for EPA approval, Jan. 18, 2011
• EPA approval letter, Jan. 28, 2011

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• Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation form
• Application

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• Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation form
• Application

• ​​Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation Form
• Application

​​DEQ has approved a beneficial use determination that allows Silica West to use its silica fume (pellets) to mix with concrete. The pellets are what remains of a terminated, metallurgical process landfill. The mix will go to Cementec Industries, Canada.

• ​Beneficial Use Determination
  
• Evaluation form
  • Evaluation memo
• Application

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​Aug. 12, 2015, DEQ approved a beneficial use determination that allows SureCrop Farm Services to use wood ash generated by burning slash, sawdust, bark and mill shavings in Seneca’s Biomass Power Facility. The ash will be applied to cropland as a liming agent, which benefits the soil by raising the pH to a more neutral value, allowing higher crop yields.

• Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation form with table
• Application

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​In 2010, DEQ learned that Tenex Management Ltd. had illegally disposed of solid waste on property it leases from the Port of Portland. Tenex subsequently applied to use a portion of the material beneficially as a replacement for virgin sand in the manufacture of concrete blocks. DEQ has approved this use for the specified materials.

• ​Beneficial Use Determination
  
• Evaluation Form
• Application

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• Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation form

• ​​Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation Form
• Application

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• Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation form
• Application

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• Beneficial Use Determination
• Evaluation form
• Application

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DEQ has approved a beneficial use determination that allows parking pad material from the West Side Quarry to be sent to Laurelwood Quarry to be used as feedstock for a hot asphalt batch plant that is under the control of the West Side Quarry owner to produce asphalt that is to be used exclusively at Laurelwood Quarry.

• Beneficial Use Determination
  
• Evaluation form ​
  

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