City crews began the restoration process for two downtown Portland parks damaged during the weeks-long Occupy Portland encampment.

Crews applied environmentally-friendly products to the soil in Chapman and Lownsdale squares instead of bringing in new soil.

Officials said the city decided to use a product with new technology to improve the quality of the existing soil. Both the product and its application method are considered new technology.

Typically, soil amendment products are applied by air, using blowers, but crews used a hose to spray the park soil with a liquid, officials said. It contains PermaMatrix, which is made of organic and recycled materials including coffee grounds from some of Portland’s largest retailers. It also contains a charcoal-type element that will help the soil filter water.

Crews say the substance will also save the city money.

“It’s so much quicker to get on the ground,” said Barry Cook with Northwest Hydro Mulchers. “I can do with a two- to three-man crew in about one hour and 15 minutes what it takes a five-man crew, air applied, half a day.”

Crews also applied seed to the ground.

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Jeremy Van Dijk, 26, gets raking Chapman Square on Wednesday. The weather has been dry enough for the city to reschedule the mass leaf-raking from last month. Chapman and Lownsdale squares have been closed since police evicted the Occupy Portland encampment Nov. 13. – Photo Credit Anne Saker/The Oregonian

The gates encircling Chapman and Lownsdale squares opened Wednesday morning for dozens of volunteers to rake the bounty of leaves that have collected since police evicted the Occupy Portland camp last month.

A spot of rain forced postponement last month of the leaf rake. As December has been clear and dry, rakers could walk the grounds Wednesday to start the major cleanup of the squares.

Simon Travis of Northeast Portland, who had camped briefly during the 38-day demonstration in the squares, said Wednesday he felt compelled to return to contribute to reclaiming the squares.

“This is an easy thing for me to do,” said the computer programmer, 36. “I’m a person of privilege. I’m by no means part of the one percent, but I do fine. I’m able to do this. It’s something that I can do to contribute.”

Portland company Sunmark Environmental Services has sold to the city at a reduced price 3 tons of a soil additive called PermaMatrix, which is, as the news release says, “made up of 100 percent organic and recycled products (that) incorporates the garbage from some of Portland’s largest coffee retailers.”

Mark Ross, spokesman for Portland Parks & Recreation, said the Oregon Seed Council has donated the grass seed that will be applied to the squares in the spring.

Terry Schrunk Plaza, to the south of the squares, has also been closed since mid-November. The federal government owns that property, and it plans to reopen the park Thursday.

In celebration, the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon has invited the public to join its members at noon in Schrunk Plaza’s amphitheater for a reading of the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution, which were ratified 220 years ago Thursday.

As many as 500 people violated the city’s anti-camping ordinance from Oct. 6 until Nov. 13 with a tent city, political activity and a working kitchen that fed as many as 1,000 people a day.

The encampment aimed to make a statement about economic inequality, that one percent of Americans hold 40 percent of the nation’s wealth. The city tolerated the demonstration until a camper was charged with throwing a Molotov cocktail at the World Trade Center two blocks away.

The city has since issued an estimate that at least $85,850 is needed to restore Chapman and Lownsdale squares to their green, lush state before the encampment. Occupy demonstrators dispute that figure, saying the city is trying to tack on deferred maintenance to the Occupy bill.

A fund has been established for donations to pay for the renewal.

– Anne Saker, Twitter @dwtnPDXreporter

The City of Portland’s restoration effort to restore downtown parks to their original condition is one of the tasks stemming from the Occupy Portland movement.  Over the past several months, high foot traffic has compacted the soils and plant life in many of Portland’s parks, rendering the soil in need of a little help. Portland Parks & Recreation was very clear about not pointing fingers and expressed that the restoration is simply something that must be done.

In the restoration process, the city of Portland wants to take a step in the  “green” direction. Their main goals for this project are to restore the compacted areas without causing further contamination to the environment, and to save taxpayers’ money. They also want to insure that the Parks’ natural balance is restored and possibly even enhanced to benefit future generations.

In order to do this, City officials have taken an innovative new approach. To ensure the Restoration Project will be carried out using the most sustainable and environmentally friendly practices, they sought the help of a new soil amendment product called PermaMatrix. The local engineers of PermaMatrix have scientifically created a biotic soil treatment product made up of 100% organic and recycled products which incorporates the garbage from some of Portland’s largest coffee retailers.

In the past, using traditional methods to restore this many acres of disturbed land would require contractors to haul in dozens of truckloads of topsoil, hire crews to spread the dirt and then hope for the plants to grow. The cost as well as the carbon footprint left by all of this soil relocation is significant.

So, in lieu of days of labor costs and the pollution associated with relocating truckloads of soil, PermaMatrix will be hydraulically applied to the grounds at Lownsdale Park and Chapman Squares on December 19^th. In a matter of hours, these biotic additives can be sprayed directly onto the ground to enhance the existing soils, thus eliminating the toxic carbon imprint left by large dump trucks.

By thinking outside of the box, the city is not only saving thousands of taxpayers’ dollars, but also creating an organically sustainable downtown environment.  PermaMatrix is a completely different approach to soil restoration that significantly reduces carbon emissions and produces lush, fertile soils at fraction of the cost.

Perhaps the best benefit of all is that PermaMatrix contains a charcoal-like substance called Biochar. Biochar, much like Britta filters, works in combination with a strategically designed suite of microbes to turn the park’s soil into a giant water filtration system, thus reducing further pollution from the rainwater run off.

The scientists who engineered PermaMatrix say, “It’s pretty simple. PermaMatrix was created by scientifically understanding the biotic make-up of earth’s most fertile soils, and mimicking that wisdom. We’ve intentionally duplicated nature’s own biotic recipe for growing plants and filtering water.”

Sunmark Environmental, the parent company of PermaMatrix is a 30-year-old Portland based company that specializes in native seeds as well as organic, sustainable restoration of disturbed soils, waters and other environments.