Project FAQs

The City of Eugene was awarded a $1.56 million grant from the EPA Brownfields Program in May of 2024. Prior to this the City used Park SDC funds to work with a consultant to further understand the contamination issues and apply for the EPA grant.

The project remediation plan looked at four options: taking no action; capping the contaminated soil; a combination of excavation and soil blending; and full excavation of contaminated soil. All four options were evaluated on criteria including their effectiveness, long-term reliability, and cost. The recommended approach is full excavation, which involves removing the top six inches of soil from the areas with high levels of dioxins and replacing it with clean soil.

The draft cleanup plan was part of the City of Eugene’s grant application to the EPA for funding and the City was able to incorporate public comment into the proposed cleanup plan for Trainsong Park.

Additional testing is now scheduled to finalize the design plan for the soil remediation. The City will host three public meetings over the course of 2026 and will send further information with details about these meetings early in the new year. You can sign up for email updates to hear about the project and future opportunities for input by filling out the form in the upper right corner of the project web page. Community questions and comments are essential to the success of the project, and we look forward to meeting you in person over the coming year for these conversations.

The basketball courts, playgrounds, baseball field, and skate park currently remain open. Portions of the park will need to remain closed until cleanup activities are complete. The

City of Eugene has been working closely with Oregon DEQ and the EPA to finalize the project timeline and we expect the work to be completed in the summer of 2026. We are hopeful that the whole park will then re-open to the public before the end of the year.

DEQ performed the initial soil testing that identified the dioxins in some areas of Trainsong Park. DEQ used US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funding to perform that testing, and that funding ran out in June 2023. At that time the project became the responsibility of the City of Eugene. The City has voluntarily entered the site into a DEQ program for their continued oversight of the planning and implementation of cleanup efforts as the DEQ will continue as the regulating agency through construction.

Dioxins are a group of chemicals that are formed during industrial processes such as the bleaching process in pulp and paper making. They are also present in some wood treating formulations and can be generated during the burning of organic materials, including by wildfires. Studies have shown that exposure to dioxins increases the risk of several types of cancer in people.

Trainsong Park soils have been found to contain dioxins at concentrations above DEQ recommended levels. DEQ’s recommended levels are conservative, meaning they assume that every visit to the park involves direct soil-to-skin contact and accidental ingestion (eating) or inhalation (breathing) of soil. Areas with the highest concentrations of dioxins have been fenced off.

Many people visiting the park do not come into contact with park soil. Pavement, grass, vegetation, and imported sand and bark chips are all considered to be free from this contamination and act as a barrier to direct soil exposure.

You can limit your exposure by avoiding contact with bare soil and washing your hands prior to eating, drinking, or touching your eyes, nose, or mouth.