The Depave Project: Free Your Soil

I can't help but think of the Talking Heads song as I sit and learn about Depave from Hindi Iserhott.

Once there were parking lots
Now it's a peaceful oasis

The plan sounds fantastical. An excited mob of volunteers descend upon an unsuspecting patch of asphalt and pulverize it. Then, as if that wasn't enough, they till and amend the soil. And THEN, they plant stuff there. Green stuff. Plants, flowers, food.

It started out simple. An urban planner, Arif Khan bought a home with no room for the organic garden he envisioned. So he made room, by chopping up the wide driveway on the side of the house. Kasandra Griffin had the same sort of idea, when she demolished her garage, jackhammered the foundation, and expanded her existing organic vegetable garden.

Together, they began to consider the areas beyond the confines of their own properties, to the empty lots scattered around Portland. They set out to depave as much of them as they could.

 

 

Now planning its third year, Depave has grown by leaps and bounds since the idea sprouted in Griffin's and Khan's minds. They found themselves looking for fiscal sponsorship just as a City Repair program coordinator was looking for a new project. The timing was perfect. Depave now operates as a project of City Repair and boasts a core group of 15 or so volunteers, plus many more who come out for specific projects—typically anywhere from 30 to 100. Hands On Greater Portland is another active partnership that has helped Depave develop a strong volunteer base. Hindi Iserhott, who comes from City Repair, was called upon to help organize the fledgling organization, and has been with them ever since. They completed one full depave last year, and seven this year, with grand plans for 2010. Iserhott explains further.

"The first year, we took the project all the way from depave to garden," Iserhott tells me, which explains why only one project was completed. The full process takes time. After the asphalt is removed, much needs to be done to restore life to the soil. Soil testing, sheet mulching, soil amendments, mycormediation (the process of using fungi to decontaminate the soil and spur the return of helpful microorganisms to it)—all of this takes time. The second year, they sought out more partners to help see the entire process from start to finish—freeing up more of Depave's time to tackle other sites.

 

"The [Portland Parks and Recreation's] Community Gardens program wanted to work with us because they're running out of room," Iserhott states. Finding garden space for the program has been a struggle—all of the current community gardens run by Portland Parks and Recreation have waiting lists. Iserhott points to other possible collaborations with like-minded organizations like the Portland Permaculture Guild, that could further their reach across the city and beyond.

Depave is getting another shot of support from a source outside of the non-profit world. Patagonia, the outdoor clothing company, has recently chosen Depave for their Voice Your Choice awards. The staff at the Portland store chose three local environmental organizations to compete for different grant amounts. All three will receive some funding, but Patagonia shoppers will vote on which organizations will get the first, second, and third place winnings. Votes will be counted from September 24th through October 24th. Depave will be in the store on Saturday, October 2nd to state their case and offer some information about what they do.

 

"We're really excited and grateful," says Iserhott. "We're hoping for a good turnout!"

Currently, Depave is planning for their 2010 schedule.

"We're discussing how many sites we want to tackle, how many we want to see through to completion," she says. They are of a mindset that they are not only depaving places, but educating people. Besides all of the physical work they do, there is a lot of research performed, evaluated, and ultimately shared. Iserhott explains that there has not been much research conducted on the effects of impervious pavement on the soil beneath, and so they've had to do it all themselves.

"Our tests so far have found no hydrocarbon leakage from the pavement into the soil beneath," which is good news for people who want to farm the newly exposed ground. They continually add to their testing metrics, to ensure the soil is safe, and to offer research methodologies to other concerned organizations. I asked her about the process.

 

"We want to get our sites decided upon in the fall so either we, or the owner of the site, can apply for grants," She begins. The actual depaving process starts in the spring, whenever the weather cooperates—typically April or May. "We start the process by having the prospective sites fill out an assessment form, then we contact them for a site assessment tour." This process helps determine the scope of the project. A small amount of asphalt is obviously a lot less costly to remove than a larger one. Determinations need to be made in terms of how many dumpsters will need to be rented, how long the depaving will take, how many volunteers will be needed, how deep the asphalt and underlying gravel go. The Depave group votes on what sites they want to work on, and individuals come forward, offering to be the site's coordinator. Then there are budgets to create, and funding to be sought.

"We are working on determining who writes the grants—do we or do the site owners? It will probably be a bit of both," Iserhott contends. Sometimes just as tricky as procuring the funds to do the project is the task of going through the permit process with the city of Portland.

 

 

"They don't know what to do with us," Iserhott says of the city. "They set these arbitrary conditions—the cost of the permits based on square footage and labor and whatnot. They've just stuck us in with their existing regulations, but they don't really pertain to us. All of our labor is volunteer!" They are collaborating with Recode, an organization that is trying to develop policies, practices, and technologies that will be more relevant to the work of organizations like Depave.

Then it's time to get rid of that pavement. I interrupt to ask her what happens with all of that asphalt. She smiles.

 

 

"Apparently, there is a world-wide shortage of asphalt," she says. "Asphalt is a byproduct of turning oil into gas. Over the years, the technology for doing this has gotten a lot better, meaning less byproduct is produced." The end result is that it is quite easy to get paving companies to take away the asphalt, which can be recycled and used for road construction and repair. Great to hear. Now back to the Depave process.

The Depave team goes out with concrete saws and cuts the asphalts into large squares that Iserhott calls "brownies." Safety is a major component in how they operate, so this is executed before the volunteers are brought onto the scene. Once the volunteers are on site, there is no further use of power tools. They begin to pry up the brownies, foot by foot and break them with sledge hammers into smaller chunks—manageable for folks to carry off to the dumpster. It is physically demanding work yet, Iserhott insists, everyone is smiling, everyone is energized.

 

 

"The task of manual labor is appealing to many, especially knowing what it means when they rip up the asphalt," she says. "We're taking initiative to recreate our own infrastructure." She says volunteers often show up at multiple sites. "Depave groupies," she affectionately calls them. People who have become dedicated to the cause.

"This amazing thing happens," she says, referring to the act of physically depaving a space. "You are now connected to that land and these people. It is empowering to be part of it. [The volunteers] think, ‘these people can do something, and so can I.'"

Depave and City Repair
St. Francis Church Office Bldg
1131 SE Oak
Portland, OR 97214
503.235.8946
www.depave.org
www.cityrepair.org

Photos: courtesy of Depave. Mosi Architecture depaving project, Jun 27, 2009.