After more than a year of uncertainty surrounding the future of an environmentally questionable 8-acre industrial site in Jeffers Slough, state and federal agencies tasked with overseeing the investigation into pollution there have reached an agreement on the next steps.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality will oversee the investigation and cleanup of contaminated soil, sediment and groundwater at the Astoria Marine Construction Company, according to an agreement reached between DEQ and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Finalized on Monday, the agreement defers the property from being placed on a federal list of polluted sites.

A year ago, representatives from the shipyard thats been in operation for more than 80 years feared the EPA would add the company to its Superfund priorities list and require it to pay for an investigation of the sites contamination, as well as its cleanup, out of pocket. A deadline for that decision was extended at the beginning of the year. The company later found pre-existing insurance coverage for a time when much of the contamination is thought to have happened as a result of shipyard activities.

For now, the EPA will take this facility out of consideration for a Superfund site, said Chuck Harman, a project manager for Oregon DEQ, calling the agreement significant. But if we cant get to the end, for one reason or another, that potential still exists.

The cost of the investigation and cleanup remain the two biggest question marks, Harman added.

An insurance policy taken out with National Continental during the 1970s and early 1980s will cover costs associated with the remedial investigation. The company is continuing its investigation into other past insurance providers to find coverage that will pay for the cleanup costs.

The investigation into the extent of the onsite pollutants and whether theyve leeched off to surrounding areas likely wont finish for a year and a half. An in-water work window, which will allow investigators access to nearby water and sediments, is set to close in October and wont reopen again until April to protect wildlife.

The marine construction company will start its investigation in earnest during the spring, said Carson Bowler, an environmental law attorney representing AMCCO. Once we get sampling done, well have a better idea of how much it will cost, he said.

DEQ and the EPA have been working since last spring to reach an agreement that would bring oversight of a remedial environmental assessment of the property under local jurisdiction.

Claire Hong, a remedial project manager with the EPA in Seattle said despite the state oversight, the investigation will have to meet federal standards.

Those standards include ensuring that no carcinogenic materials have seeped into the water supply or been pumped into the air. She said she is confident that will take place without the property being listed as a Superfund site, which denotes land with the worst pollution in the country and sets it aside for cleanup.

We deferred it to the state because they showed us they are doing a lot of work to get the communitys participation and tribal involvement, Hong said. Were still in the back reviewing it.

Oregon DEQ will consult with tribal governments and a community advisory group as the investigation and cleanup work proceeds.

A meeting between the tribal leaders, DEQ and the owners of AMCCO to discuss next steps is scheduled for Oct. 1 in Portland at the law offices of Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt.

Its been a long time, said Harman, DEQs project manager, so were looking forward to laying out the investigation to see what needs to be done.