by Susan Watkins
Earlier this summer, Waste Management asked local residents and business owners to join a "Stewardship Committee" to advise Waste Management about appropriate uses of lands surrounding Riverbend Landfill.
Though the committee takes its work seriously, it's unclear how much deference WMI will give to the group's decisions. Three committee members are paid by Waste Management. Moreover, WMI has told the committee that it retains the right to reject the committee's recommendations, and, moreover, that WMI has no intention of funding any of the proposals, even if approved!
So why did WMI create this committee? For the same reason it holds monthly "community meetings" (fourth Tuesday of each month, usually at the McMinnville Senior Center) and that it touted a new design for the dump's recycling area with great fanfare last winter: to distract us from their real purpose, ie, to expand Riverbend Landfill onto an adjacent 60 acres of farmland, keeping the dump open and the big trucks rolling through our small towns for another 25 years.
That said, some real good may come from the Stewardship Committee. At the committee's September 6, 2012 meeting, farmer Clarke Ellingson spoke eloquently about his role as a local farmer who knows the land around the dump and then offered a BRILLIANT suggestion: to offer the land for rent/lease to YOUNG (new generation) farmers, who would have to submit a business plan to qualify. According to Clarke, young people can access capital for farming; however, they cannot access land because land is too expensive for them to purchase. Clarke was given this same opportunity when he was young and he made a lifetime career from that generous beginning.
Waste Not member Susan Meredith, who serves on the Stewardship Committee, quickly embraced this idea. Said Susan, "If WMI doesn't want to farm the land, they should sell it to someone who will!"
Landfill neighbor Ramsey McPhillips, a former Waste Not board member, offered yet another option: In exchange for closing Riverbend Landfill, he would donate land to build whatever the community wanted. With the landfill closed, even the 60-acre parcel WMI has set aside for expansion could stay in farming.
The next Stewardship Committee meeting has not yet been set; we will post the date and time when available. The public is welcome, and there is an opportunity to address the committee.
