Azmat Hussain, president of the Save NE 82nd Avenue Coalition, wants to see a development explosion along Northeast 82nd Avenue, just not literally.

Near Madison High School, though, there’s the vacant 26-acre Siskiyou Square, a former landfill used for the removal of construction waste until it closed in the early 1980s. The Oregon State Department of Environmental Quality has warned property owner Mike Hashem that elevated methane gas levels on the site pose health risks.

The current gas extraction and monitoring system on the property is outdated, said Bob Schwartz, a DEQ manager. He is concerned the gas could wander offsite, collect in contained areas such as electrical boxes, and explode.

Hussain said news of the methane levels has worried property owners and may hinder new development.

“There’s interest from developers,” he said, “but there are some who are worried because it used to be a landfill.” He mentioned Goals Soccer, a soccer field developer, and the nearby USA School of Wrestling.

Pamela Penrose, development director of the USA School of Wrestling, said that she’d like to see more development along Northeast 82nd Avenue. She welcomes a monitoring system that would keep track of the methane levels, to make sure the gas doesn’t spread off site.

DEQ and Hashem tested for methane at the property’s southern line, and in the confined spaces of utility vaults and in the crawl spaces beneath some of the 10 buildings closest to the landfill on the north side of Northeast Knott Street.

They found elevated levels of methane gas at the southern edge of the property. The gas’ pressure was low, but Schwartz said it would still pose an explosion risk if not monitored.

In February, the DEQ told Hashem that he’d have to clean up his site. Schwartz said there have been some problems in making the site comply with DEQ regulations. The problems sprang from questions of ownership.

Hashem said he has flirted with selling the property a number of times over the years, including to a Canadian developer interested in bringing Wal-Mart to the site in 2006. Public outcry derailed that idea. DEQ did not want to require Hashem to install a new system for monitoring the methane if he was going to turn around and sell the property without doing so, Schwartz said.

Hashem said that now the entire site could be split up into smaller parcels.

But the property hasn’t sold, and now the DEQ is requiring Hashem to install a new methane monitoring and extraction system. The extraction system acts as a vacuum, sucking up excess gas from beneath the soil beds. The upgrades, Hashem said, are expected to cost more than $100,000, money he said he doesn’t have.
Hashem said he’s done plenty to assuage the fears of the neighborhood, including testing the land and agreeing the monitor the site.

“We’ve done everything responsible we can do,” Hashem said. “So what more can we do?” He called those who are turning the methane levels into an issue “self-promoters.” He has committed the money, however he can get it, to pay for the monitoring and extraction system.

Interest in the property continues, despite the gas levels, according to Dennis Randazzo, the broker for the land. The interest, in part, comes from the property’s sheer size, the largest plot of undeveloped land in the city.

“There’s nothing new or dangerous there for anyone to worry about,” Randazzo said.

Les Allan, a principal with a Pasadena, Cal.-based soccer field development firm called Goals Soccer, is looking to develop a portion of the property. The project would include 10 to 12 soccer fields, a full-service concession area and locker rooms.

His project would require only a small portion of the overall property, about four to five acres. But the gas levels worry him.

“I will not buy a site that has excess costs unrelated to soccer,” Allan said. He doesn’t want property that may expose the fields’ users to health problems, and he doesn’t want to pay for an expensive cleanup. “We can’t afford to do that; we’re in the soccer business.”

Goals Soccer would be able to fit so many soccer fields onto such a small amount of acreage, Allan said, because the fields, intended for games of five-on-five, would be about half the size of a typical field.
He said he loves the site and thinks Portland potentially is a huge market for soccer. He said his project could draw about 150,000 users per year.

Other developers have expressed interest in nearby properties, which also may be affected by the methane levels.

Across the street, the USA School of Wrestling wants to build an Olympic-level training facility for wrestlers, Penrose said. It has gotten support from Commissioner Nick Fish, who has also supported the Goals Soccer proposal.

Hussain’s organization plans to educate the community on the effects of the methane levels.

Citing health concerns over Hashem’s land, the Save N.E. 82nd Coalition, in cooperation with the Madison South Neighborhood Association, is sponsoring a town hall meeting to discuss the property’s public health and safety issues. The meeting will be from 6 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 19 at Banfield Pet Hospital Corporate Headquarters, 8000 N.E. Tillamook St.

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Mike Hashem, owner of the 26-acre Siskiyou Square on Northeast 82nd Avenue near Madison High School, says he’s willing to do whatever he can to take care of elevated methane levels a methane gas leak on his property.

A Department of Environmental Quality study completed less than a year ago revealed on Hashem’s property line, located near adjacent properties. The agency has now asked Hashem to install a new methane gas monitoring and extraction system.

Coincidentally, Hashem’s actions coincide with renewed interest from developers.

Hashem has owned the former landfill for 14 years, and has come close to signing development deals in the past. (Wal-Mart expressed interest in the property in 2006 — a development proposal the property’s broker Dennis Randazzo characterizes as “infamous” due to the rancour it created at the time.) Now, smaller developers have expressed interest in the property, but the methane gas leak is creating a stink.

“We’ve done everything responsible we can do,” Hashem said. “So what more can we do?” Though he wants the property to seem attractive to prospective tenants, such as Pasadena-based Goals Soccer, he’d rather not spend the $200,000 necessary for the upgrades to the site – money he says he doesn’t have right now.

is a company that specializes in developing soccer facilities. The company’s owner, Les Allan, has been eyeing four to five acres of Siskiyou Square for the past year. But he says he’s worried about the methane gas leak, even if he doesn’t think it will affect his project.

But before too much work can be done on the project, the Save NE 82^nd Avenue Coalition will hold an informative community town hall to discuss the leak. The townhall will take place on August 19.

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