Opponents Seek Contested Case

by Susan Watkins

6/11/2013 1:35:47 AM

The Stop the Dump Coalition has asked the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to hold an administrative hearing on the approval it recently issued for an MSE berm at Riverbend Landfill.  The hearing, called a contested case, is normally granted to applicants whose permit requests have been denied by DEQ.  However, nothing in Oregon's administrative rules prevents the agency from holding a contested case at the request of a permit opponent.

Stop the Dump President Ilsa Perse cited three general grounds for the request:

- No evidence of any need for additional landfill capacity was shown, triggering DEQ's power to deny the permit on the grounds that Waste Management, the landfill's owner, failed to "clearly demonstrate" the need for additional capacity;

- The County has never approved additional landfill cells as contemplated by its 2004 Solid Waste Management Plan; and

- Other grounds argued before DEQ by landfill opponents during the comment period on the berm, including seismic stability of the proposed wall and the legal effect of EPA rules that control the scope of a seismic safety assessment.

Perse says the group does not expect DEQ to grant the request, but felt it was important to give the agency the opportunity to resolve the dispute administratively.  Contested cases are much cheaper for the agency and for taxpayers than the alternative of a court battle.  Assuming the request for a contested case is denied, the Coalition will formally ask DEQ to reconsider its decision.