Tannery Site Cleanup

Project History & Background

The former Frontier Leather tannery site began operations in 1947 using chromium oxide to tan cow and deer hides from local slaughterhouses and split them into halves. The less valuable halves were buried on site. Sludge was discharged into two lagoons on the property. When the tannery ceased operations in the 1990s, it left behind two sludge-filled lagoons and the discarded hides buried on the 25-acre property. 

From 1956-1972, Frontier Leather leased an on-site building to a lead‐acid battery manufacturer, which required the removal of 743 tons of lead‐contaminated soil in the mid‐1990s. In 1981, a fire nearly destroyed the facility. Portions were rebuilt and the tannery remained in use until 1998 when Frontier Leather went bankrupt. The former tannery was vacant for nearly 10 years and was destroyed by a fire in 2006.

In 2002, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) added the site to its Orphan Site List. Initial assessments identified chromium, lead and other heavy metals in soil and sediment at concentrations exceeding human health and ecological risks. A FY14 EPA Brownfields Site‐Specific Assessment grant funded a Phase II Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) and draft Analysis of Brownfields Cleanup Alternatives. The preferred remedial action included excavation and off‐site transportation of contaminated soils and sediments with metal concentrations above cleanup levels from the Rock Creek floodplain

From 2012-2014, Washington County acquired the site through tax foreclosure, with the City of Sherwood purchasing the site from the County in 2023.

In 2024, the City was awarded a $5 million EPA Brownfield Cleanup Grant to help the City clean up the site to better protect the Tualatin River Wildlife Refuge and allow the City to relocate the Public Works facility to the site, opening up four acres of land for for redevelopment in downtown Sherwood.