Neighbors faced off against the landfill on the last day of January in the Oregon Court of Appeals. At issue is the validity of a land use compatibility statement (LUCS) issued by Yamhill County in support of the 40-foot high wall Waste Management wants to construct on the Highway 18 side of the dump. The wall will allow the landfill to accept an additional 1,000,000 tons of garbage and to remain open an additional two years, until 2016. The County did not participate in the hearing.
The Justices asked pointed questions of both sides, focusing on a state law that exempts from appeals LUCS issued in cases where the parties have other opportunities to challenge a land use decision.
In this case, the neighbors pointed out that the County failed to hold a hearing before issuing the LUCS, relying instead on 20-year-old data. The landfill countered with the claim that the proposed wall is no more than an extension of an existing flood control berm that the County approved in 1980. The neighbors responded that the County also imposed a 20-acre maximum size limit on working parts of the landfill, with filled cells to be returned to farm uses, back in 1980.
The Court did not get to learn that the "perimeter berm" the landfill relied on doesn't actually exist. That kind of information won't come out unless the Court orders Yamhill County to hold a hearing.
The Court is expected to rule within the next three months. DEQ stated in 2012 that lack of a timely decision in the courts would not hold up a decision on whether to approve construction of the wall. However, that decision is on hold for at least a few days pending further meetings between DEQ and the state Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) about whether DEQ must use the magnitude 9.0 earthquake standard that other state agencies use when approving construction permits.
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