Original article posted by EPA Region 10 Building on Brownfields Newsletter

Do you know the major players in Oregon?
Meetings are a chance to build your brownfields network

For about six years, Lon Yandell, the environmental department manager at Kleinfelder, Inc., in Portland has been a faithful regular at the Brownfield Networking Meeting, hosted by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

The meetings are an opportunity for Yandell to meet and exchange ideas with people just like him–people interested in brownfields and their redevelopment. Over the years, the meetings have helped him develop relationships with other professionals from the region. They’ve also served as a tool for bouncing ideas around, he says.

Yandell recalls one meeting in particular when officials from a redevelopment project in St. Helens attended. Port officials there presented their project and then opened up the discussion, asking for any advice from attendees.

“I thought that was great,” Yandell says. “Here was someone who was struggling, and they got help.”

Along with providing networking opportunities, the meetings bring attendees up to speed on what’s new with the EPA, DEQ and Oregon Economic and Community Development Department, Yandell adds.

“It’s an excellent opportunity to be with other people who share my passion for brownfields,” he says of the meetings.

For nearly 10 years, DEQ has served as host of the Brownfields Networking Meeting. About 25 to 30 people attend the two-hour meetings, held three times a year, typically in January, May and September, says Gil Wistar, DEQ’s brownfields program coordinator.

The meetings were started as a way to get all these people together who have a common interest but approached brownfields from different angles, Wistar says. The meetings pull together people from all professional backgrounds: environmental consultants, public officials, economic development professionals, developers, insurance experts and, at times, property owners. They gather to learn from one another and share stories of not only successes but hurdles as well.

Some important topics, such as state funding sources, have been addressed a few times at the meetings. Other topics covered include insurance, small sites development, brownfields inventory projects, green space vs. brown space, marketing a brownfield, and remediation techniques. One past meeting even included a walking tour of a sustainable brownfields project in Portland’s Pearl District.

Greg Theisen, senior planner for the Port of Portland, has been attending for four years. The meetings are a good forum for sharing the challenges of brownfields redevelopment, he says. “I really appreciate DEQ and the state making the effort to put these on,” Theisen adds.

As for DEQ, the meetings have helped officials there, too. By listening to the various attendees, Wistar has learned that many brownfields issues, and the priorities the different players bring to the project, don’t revolve around contamination.

“It’s helped DEQ have a better idea of what the challenges are for communities in implementing brownfields projects,” Wistar says.

If other states are interested in creating their own networking groups, Wistar recommends they first find someone willing to set up a structure. Then just start calling people until you have a nucleus of key players. Eventually, you will have an e-mail list and can begin soliciting people for ideas and meeting topics. As a facilitator, be open to sharing leadership and pulling ideas from participants, he says.

Wistar hopes the meetings empower people to take on these redevelopment projects. “And not to fear them,” he says.

To receive Oregon DEQ brownfields notification e-mails, including information about the networking meetings, go to http://www.deq.state.or.us/lq/cu/brownfields/index.htm.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 21st, 2008 at 12:55 pm and is filed under ●Brownfields - Miscellaneous.

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