Funded by a generous grant from the U.S. EPA, Bureau of Environmental Services is transforming the Rollin' Tire brownfield site into a pocket park for the Lents neighborhood in Southeast Portland. For many years, a gas station and auto shop did business on the site at SE 108th and Foster Road, and contaminated the soil with petroleum.

Environmental Services used a technology called in situ bioremediation, which essentially used bacteria to consume and neutralize the petroleum contamination without disturbing Johnson Creek, which runs next to the property. Watch the video below to learn more about the Rollin’ Tire cleanup and the Brownfield Program:

Today a kiosk, complete with an ecoroof and interpretive signs, tells about the site's history. The job-training organization Verde completed the revegetation and ecoroof installation, using the site as a classroom for hands-on experience with brownfield restoration. 

The new pocket park will be the perfect spot to enjoy the 70-acre East Lents Floodplain Restoration Project currently underway next door. (Watch for more about that project in a future post.)