Sherwood awarded $5 million brownfield cleanup grant

The city of Sherwood has been awarded a $5 million grant by the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up a former tannery site near downtown.

The Sherwood grant is the largest of six totaling $9.8 million that the EPA awarded to Oregon recipients on Monday.

“This grant will enable the city to clean up the tannery site that has been an ongoing environmental threat to the Tualatin River Wildlife Refuge,” Sherwood Mayor Tim Rosener stated in a news release.“It has the added benefit of allowing us to relocate the public works facility and open up 4 acres for redevelopment in downtown Sherwood.

“This redevelopment also holds immense potential for job creation and much-needed middle housing, contributing to our community's economic growth and livability,” he added.

Sherwood officials said they hope to begin the cleanup of the 25-acre site later this year.

The Frontier Leather Tannery operated from 1947 to 1998, when the company went bankrupt. The tannery used chromium oxide to tan cow and deer hides and buried some hides on site, according to the city. Sludge was discharged into two lagoons on the property.

Frontier Leather also leased a building to lead-acid battery manufacturers from 1956 to 1972. In the mid-1990s, 743 tons of lead-contaminated soil was removed from the site.

Washington County foreclosed on the site in 2014, and Sherwood purchased it in 2023.

“Far too many communities across America have suffered the harmful economic and health consequences of living near polluted brownfield sites,” President Joe Biden stated in the news release. “I’ve long believed that people who’ve borne the burden of pollution should be the first to see the benefits of new investment.”

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, and EPA Region 10 Administrator Casey Sixkiller also praised the grants.

Other EPA brownfield grant awards in Oregon include:

• $1.5 million to the city of Eugene to clean up Trainsong Park, which was closed in 2022 after elevated levels of dioxin from an unknown source were found in soil;



• $1.5 million to Metro, Washington and Clackamas counties, and Unite Oregon, to conduct environmental site assessments, develop cleanup plans and engage communities throughout the state;



• $780,000 to the Port of Arlington Environmental Sentry Corp. to clean up the former Condon Grade School;



• $500,000 to North Wasco County School District no. 21 to clean up the former Chenowith Middle School in The Dalles; and



• $500,000 to the city of The Dalles to develop environmental assessments and related plans for the city’s west side and downtown.

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