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Approximately 2,300 contaminated and underutilized properties exist in the Portland-metro area, and according to a new report, they possess a lot of potential.

鈥淓ven if only one-fourth of the suspected brownfields are redeveloped in those areas, then we could meet our 20-year housing demand that we measured in the urban growth report,鈥� said Miranda Bateschell, a senior planner with Metro’s community development division. 鈥淭hat’s important.鈥�

Bateschell, along with Metro Policy Advisory Committee members, recently released findings of the . It’s the first concentrated attempt to diagnose the severity of Portland’s brownfield problem and prescribe some solutions.

Among other things, it found that brownfield redevelopment could have a significant impact on housing, employment and tax revenue 鈥� but numerous, large barriers stand in the way.

鈥淭he challenges are financial costs, the risk or uncertainty, and liability issues, which impede transactions,鈥� Bateschell said. 鈥淟enders need to know the condition before they’re willing to lend on a site, and it takes a lot of money to just figure out what the situation is on a site.鈥�

For instance, the Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District is working to turn a former gas station site into park land. Hal Bergsma, the district’s planning director, said the cost to excavate contaminated soils from the property was approximately $118,000. That didn’t include the cost of consulting and analysis. A $150,000 grant aided the park district.

鈥淲e probably could have afforded it, but if we spent funds on the cleanup work, then that meant we couldn’t spend funds on the other things that are really our main mission, which is to provide parks and recreation services to people in our district,鈥� Bergsma said.

The report included recommendations to facilitate the cleanup process. They included creating tax credits and tax abatements for remediation, and changing laws that dissuade cleanup.

Bateschell said Oregon law allows assessed value reductions for properties with environmental contamination. Oftentimes, owners will use that reduction, but simply hold their properties.

鈥淲hat this does, even though it isn’t the purpose, is that even though (the site) is impaired, it doesn’t create any incentive for the property owner to do something on the site,鈥� Bateschell said.

Other recommendations included creating programs to help facilitate acquisition and redevelopment of brownfield properties. This could be done by providing low-interest loans to the private sector, selling publicly financed properties to private interests, or improving the regulatory process between local, state and federal agencies.

Bateschell said cleanup of a significant number of properties would move from infeasible to feasible with just a 5 percent reduction in the soft costs associated with permitting and assessment. Corky Collier, executive director of the , and a member of the committee that developed the report, said change is long overdue.

鈥淲e need to get these places cleaned up,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey’re contaminated, they’re not good for the environment and they’re not good for our health. And we’ve been sitting on our hands not doing anything about it for decades. This is shameful.鈥�

Remediation could be lucrative. Over the next 20 years, the region is projected to gain as many as 38,800 households, which could put outward pressure on the urban growth boundary. But if all brownfields within the UGB were redeveloped, approximately 138,000 dwelling units could be added.

The report estimates that remediation of all brownfields could create space for 69,000 additional jobs worth $3.3 billion in wages, and between $324 million and $427 million in property taxes. Additionally, if 100 percent of the brownfield sites were redeveloped, annual carbon dioxide emissions would be reduced by 127,000 metric tons 鈥� the equivalent of emissions by 30,000 cars.

Collier believes brownfield redevelopment is an opportunity for the state.

鈥淚f government can help finance the gap between what a business can afford to redevelop and what’s needed for brownfield redevelopment, then in a matter of a handful of years that financing is paid back and you now have jobs on that property and you have tax revenue rolling into the state, year after year,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t’s basically free money; it’s an incredible return on value for government.鈥�

Bateschell said the report represents only a start and that she will visit Metro Council in January or February to continue the dialogue.