Roseburg Forest Products wants to buy 23 acres just north of Northgate Marketplace to protect its mill on North Pacific Highway.

“They’re afraid of fire risk,” said Don Hanson, a hydrogeologist with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. “There are piles of material next to it, so they will be keeping it secure so there are no accidents.”

The property is just north of Highway 238, east of the railroad tracks, west of North Central Avenue and south of Roseburg Forest Products’ plant at 2685 N. Pacific Highway, where it manufactures medium-density fiberboard, known as MDF. Dick’s Sporting Goods is just across the street to the south, and Chick-fil-A is just to the east of the land it intends to buy.

Hanson said there are no plans to develop the 23 acres.

“The mill isn’t expanding,” he said.

According to its filings with the Department of Environmental Quality, Roseburg Forest Products plans to install a fence to prevent fire and vandalism, and then plant trees around it to mitigate dust.

A storm water system on the property would be abandoned, limiting off-site runoff.

The property has contaminated soil that includes petroleum hydrocarbons, dioxins/furans, arsenic, chromium, lead and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

According to DEQ, there were about 17,000 tons of petroleum-contaminated soil on the site in 1994, and this soil is in a berm near the center of the property. There is nothing in the current plans that call for removal of the contaminated soil, DEQ said.

There are no buildings on the 23 acres.

According to the county assessor, the real market value of the two tax lots that make up the 23-acre site is more than $10 million.

The property was part of the larger former Medford Corporation (Medco) mill site, which also included the area that is now Northgate Marketplace.

According to Jackson County, the 23-acre site is owned by Northgate Center LLC.

The property is being purchased under a prospective purchase agreement program, devised in 1994 as part of the state’s Environmental Cleanup Law. The DEQ agreement is a tool to encourage property transactions that would otherwise be unlikely to occur because of liabilities associated with a contaminated site.

A proposed prospective purchase agreement consent order will provide Roseburg Forest Products with a release from liability for claims as well as third-party liability protection.

The former Medco mill complex operated on over 100 acres of land in Medford from the 1920s until 1988.

The Northgate Marketplace area has seen significant development in recent years, offering a number of popular shopping spots, including Trader Joe’s, REI and Dick’s.

Medford City Council recently approved a 372-unit apartment complex next to Northgate Marketplace despite objections from Timber Products, which was concerned residents of the apartments would complain about its operation next door.

Creations Northwest, developer of Northgate Village, indicated it had reached a resolution with Timber Products.

The $70 million project is one of the largest apartment complexes in the history of Medford, and will offer one- and two-bedroom units, starting at around $1,200.

A representative from Creations Northwest said 20 feet of contaminated soil on an acre of land had to be removed to prepare the site for construction.