8/21/2013 1:26:53 AM
In a brief letter to the Stop the Dump Coalition, the Department of Environmental Quality rejected the Coalition's request that the agency reconsider its decision to approve construction of a 40-foot high wall along the western edge of the dump.
DEQ's decision clears the way for Waste Management to begin construction of its long-sought MSE ("mechanically stabilized earthern") berm. The berm effectively allows 1,000,000 additional tons of garbage to be deposited at Riverbend over the next three years.
The Coalition had asked DEQ to take another look at calculations submitted in support of the berm's stability during the anticipated magnitude 9.0 subduction zone earthquake that will strike western Oregon more than once during the life of the landfill. Waste Management's analyses just barely supported stability even though the values used were more favorable than those typically used by earthquake experts.
The Coalition had also asked DEQ to require Waste Management to demonstrate that the additional million tons of capacity is needed. Failure to demonstrate need is grounds for denial under Oregon law. Waste Management's attorneys responded that generation of garbage anywhere in NW Oregon is sufficient to show that additional capacity is needed at Riverbend. They called the Coalition's contention that the hundreds of years of capacity in other Oregon landfills met current needs "absurd."
Many local residents have urged the Coalition to sue DEQ to get the berm approval overturned, despite the high price of a lawsuit. Under state law, a suit in circuit court must be filed within 60 days of DEQ's decision, that is, by October 13. The Coalition will meet later this month to plan its response. McPhillips Farms, a dump neighbor, had joined the Coalition in the Request for Reconsideration and must now also decide whether to sue.
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