16th May2010

Emerson Street Garden

by Jason King

An exciting project and local group that is worth of some attention is the Emerson Street Garden – a project from Groundwork Portland and the Oregon Sustainable Agriculture Land Trust (OSALT) who are developing a community driven agriculture installation with a twist.  The site is 100′ x 25′ making it a thin slice adjacent to an existing residential neighborhood.  Lead is presumed to have accumulated when the house burned down some years back, and the contamination is isolated in the top layers of soil.  The groups are “…working with the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on a unique experiment to determine if the lead can be removed or more thinly distributed with plants. The desired result is soil safe enough to support a community garden.” Areas of lead contaminated soil will be moved to the back portion of the site, and a number of phytoremediation techniques will be applied to these areas.

An aerial for some context:

In a recent update, Groundwork Portland Executive Director Cassie Cohen gave some latest news, including the commencement of cleanup activities:

  • Two weekends ago, the contaminated soil where the house sat was moved to the back of the lot by volunteers from OSALT and GeoSyntec.
  • Yesterday, volunteers from GeoSyntec took dozens of soil samples and sent them off to a lab.  Now, we will wait one to two weeks for the results to see if the remaining soil is safe to begin designing a garden.
  • In the meantime, some cover crop will be thrown on the soil to help rejuvenate the nutrients in the ground, and prepare for a garden.

CONCEPT DESIGN

After participating in the first workshop on April 17th, for the latest workshop on May 6th, TERRA.fluxus did a few quick studies of the space to give participants a feel for options in arranging the site elements.  These weren’t meant to be final designs, but a range of possible ideas to get the juices flowing for participants of the workshop.   Design elements included the phytoremediation area, water feature, entry gateway, benches and tables, tool shed, areas for education, compost areas, raised beds, and shared garden plots.  Here’s a snapshot of these concepts.

The first concept utilized a central pathway from a semi-circular entry plaza that opened up to the street.  Elements were located on each side of the pathway and included a micro-orchard and other community site elements towards the north side of the site.  The location of trees towards the north portion keeps solar access at a maximum for garden beds, and provides some buffering from the street.  The plaza includes a reconfigured sidewalk routing and a visible historic marker on the boulevard to denote the sites location.  Raised beds, tool shed, and small plots are fit on each side of the central pathway leading to the phytoremediation area to the southernmost portion of the site.

The second iteration kept the central entry into the site, and located most of the community elements towards the north, but shifted the pathway to accomodate larger 20×20′ garden plots along the south portion of the site.  A central structure would be used to capture rainwater for storage in rainbarrels, and the social and educational spaces would be in close proximity for keeping an eye on kids while they were in class activities.  Gateway and fencing around the site draws from neighborhood history and offers security while welcoming visitors when open.

The third concept was derived from a sketch by one of the participants of the first workshop, and featured a sinuous pathway weaving through the site and fitting the program elements within the spaces left over.  The northernmost portion of the site includes fencing, and a micro-orchard, along with a shade structure and social space.  Raised beds are fit inside each pathway node, along with spaces for art and historical markers throughout.  A central tool shed becomes the spot for education within the garden, and the phytoremediation area is separated from the garden by a water feature to delineate this space.

Look forward to further updates as the project progresses in Summer of 2010.

Category : agriculture, brownfields, community, environmental, food, landscape, planning, portland, projects, urban voids
1 Comm
03rd Mar2010

Post-Industrial Landscape Mitigation

by Jason King

An on-going TERRA.fluxus project in North Portland involves a number of tasks related to the mitigation of a post-industrial brownfield site along the Willamette River.  This parcel abuts the river and used to be used for ship-building and repair activities, and has been out of use for some years.  Overall remnant contamination was removed, and some structures were removed to ensure that pollution was stabilized, in anticipation for future use.  In addition, an aggressive schedule of planting mitigation was required for selected areas to prevent erosion and provide vegetative cover.

Jason King  and TERRA.fluxus was hired to provide preliminary planting recommendations based on the mitigation plans prepared by environmental consultants.  This included consultation with property managers to consider types of planting, appropriate site coverage, and temporary irrigation systems.  The scope also included annual review and reporting on the health of plant materials through 2012.

The initial remediation plan included a identification of a number of areas within the site that needed landscape coverage, either in the form of plantings, bark, or rock.  These were in place to stabilize slopes and keep any exposed soil surface in place.  The map below shows a range of required areas delineated in the initial site assessment.

site landscape mitigation plan

A more detailed planting plan was completed for the buffer area to the SW corner of the site – including native buffer plantings that were required by regulatory agencies to mitigate site disturbance related to cleanup activities.  A wide array of native plantings appropriate for riparian areas and the Willamette River Greenway were selected, including Incense Cedar, White Alder, and Big Leaf Maple.  The understory was filled in with Red- and Yellow-Twigged Dogwood, Currants, Snowberry, Nootka Rose, Serviceberry and Evergreen Huckleberry – mimicking the dry upland edge of the river habitat.

mitigation area native plantings

After the initial planting, TERRA.fluxus provided initial certification of landscaping to City of Portland.  A number of site photos show the initial plantings after 1 year.  Overall there was some necessary replacement, but overall plant health was maintained and overall invasive weed coverage was minimal, particularly in the native planting mitigation areas.  Some minor repairs to irrigation was required, as well as installation of a few replacement plantings, although both were minimal, due to the diligence of the owners property management team.

view south along riverbank plantings

overall non-mitigation planting and groundcover

view east showing buffer plantings

north property line revegetated buffer

Stay tuned for more updates as annual reviews are completed, and an upcoming non-project related post about some of the unique site features of this parcel.  It’s interesting to think of what the eventual best use of the property will be, as the parkland to the south and Port properties to the North expand, and the need for more access to the Willamette River continues.

Category : brownfields, environmental, landscape, mitigation, permitting, planting, portland, projects, urban voids
0 Comm
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