Erika Beresovoy, WA Ecology Public Involvement and Communications, 509.385.2290
Friday, April 21, 2023 at 10:54 a.m.
If you’re ready to get outside, Spokane’s Riverfront Park is a great option!
From 2016 to 2021, the City worked with Washington State Department of Ecology to clean up and redevelop areas of the park. The partnership leveraged public and private funds to increase the park’s diversity and accessibility, making it Spokane’s No. 1 gathering space for residents and visitors alike.
The cleanup earned the City and Ecology a Phoenix Award for brownfields excellence at the national Brownfields 2022 Conference in Oklahoma City.
Together, we revamped iconic park attractions and added exciting new features, all while improving the environmental health of this gem on the Spokane River. New features include:
Along with the other public and private funds, the City used three U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Cleanup grants totaling $600,000 to address soil contamination from former railway and industrial uses and the Great Spokane Fire of 1889. While these contaminants required cleanup when disturbed, park visitors were never exposed to them because of fill material used during park construction and ground coverings such as grass and asphalt.
The City received technical assistance from an Ecology brownfield site manager under the Voluntary Cleanup Program prior to further redevelopment of the 64-acre park. As soil was disturbed during redevelopment, it was sampled to determine if it was contaminated, impacted, or clean.
The cleanup involved off-site disposal and on-site consolidation and capping of contaminated soil.
Brownfields are abandoned or underutilized properties that may have environmental contamination, which can inhibit redevelopment even though they are often in prime locations. The program seeks out funding to conduct site assessments, conduct cleanup activities, along with providing technical assistance and information on statewide programs and policies.
