"Every complaint counts so I would encourage people to report every time. People can call the complaint line if the form is too cumbersome. It is OK to make a call for each occurrence."
So writes Marcia Danab of DEQ's nuisance complaint department ("Communications and Outreach"). Marcia wants people to use the DEQ hotline or online complaint form to notify the Department about untenable odors, litter, air and water pollution, and other assaults on the environment and our senses.
She says, "The best way to record a complaint with the Department of Environmental Quality is to use the online complaint form at http://www.deq.state.or.us/complaints/ You also can call the DEQ Complaints Hotline at 1-888-997-7888. Please do not call individuals at DEQ. Using the DEQ complaints system is the most effective way for DEQ to address a complaint. Someone from DEQ will get back to the person who files a complaint."
In 2011-2012 DEQ received over 200 separate complaints about Riverbend, mostly about smell. Beginning in 2014, DEQ will implement its new Odor Nuisance Strategy to handle problem odor sources. Our job as "air consumers" is to make sure DEQ knows how pervasive and nasty the odors that emanate from Riverbend truly are.
The past several weeks the deep fog kept odors near the ground and in the low hills surrounding the dump making Christmas nearly unbearable for many residents within 2 to 3 miles of the landfill. In addition to fog, the use of tarps instead of soil for daily cover releases a stifling garbage stink when the tarps blow off in the wind.
If the dump is allowed to expand, the odor and other problems -- birds and vermin that damage nearby crops, truck noise and road wear and tear, leachate contamination, litter -- will only get worse.
From now through January 2 at 5:00 pm, when you report an odor issue to DEQ, send a copy to the Yamhill County Planning Department. Ask that your report be included in the record for Riverbend's rezoning request. Send to: Ken Friday at fridayk@co.yamhill.or.us.
And maybe our New Year will actually be Happy!
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Saturday, December 21, 2013
A Dump by Any Other Name...Still Stinks
by Ilsa Perse, President, Stop the Dump Coalition/Waste Not of Yamhill County
DEQ (the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality) says it doesn't get very many complaints about the stench from Riverbend Landfill. Without recorded complaints DEQ, and Waste Management, think that everything is hunky-dory. You know that is not the case.
What Needs to Happen: The public needs to report the odors
How to Report:
Email: andes.gary@deq.state.or.us (Gary Andes, DEQ odor czar for Riverbend)
complaintintake@deq.state.or.us (DEQ general complaint department)
mathiss@co.yamhill.or.us (Sherrie Mathison, Yamhill County Solid Waste)
JOLeary@wm.com (Waste Management environmental control at the dump)
What to Say:
• where you smelled the odor (driving on Hway 18, Lowes parking lot, walking on Linfield Campus, etc)
• when you smelled the odor (date and time if possible)
• what you smelled -- This is an extra credit detail and is not essential, but sometimes the odor that fills the air is clearly garbage, or diesel, or rotten egg.
Numbers Matter: If possible, send one email each time you smell the dump. It's a numbers game. 4 different emails will go in as 4 complaints.
If you want to elaborate about why the odor bothers you, of course, do that, but you can keep your emails simple, sticking simply to: where, when, and maybe what.
Easy way to send to 4 different email addresses: Make a group in your email address book; maybe call it "Riverbend Stinks" or "Odor"or "Stench" or anything that works for you and include the 4 email contacts shown above. Send your comments to that one address and voila, all 4 contacts will be included. If you can only manage one email address, then make it GARY ANDES ---andes.gary@deq.state.or.us.
People tell us all the time that they smell the stench driving to and from the Coast, Willamina or Sheridan; driving on Pea Vine Road, at Lowes, Albertsons, Roths, Linfield, Bi-Mart,3rd Street, etc. Telling folks like your boss or myself that the dump smells does no good. It only counts if you tell DEQ.
Thank you for helping out yet again. Complaints before the end of the year are important, but then once 2014 rolls around, please keep it up!
Merry, Happy, Joyous, Peaceful, and Garbage-Free wishes to all.
DEQ (the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality) says it doesn't get very many complaints about the stench from Riverbend Landfill. Without recorded complaints DEQ, and Waste Management, think that everything is hunky-dory. You know that is not the case.
What Needs to Happen: The public needs to report the odors
How to Report:
Email: andes.gary@deq.state.or.us (Gary Andes, DEQ odor czar for Riverbend)
complaintintake@deq.state.or.us (DEQ general complaint department)
mathiss@co.yamhill.or.us (Sherrie Mathison, Yamhill County Solid Waste)
JOLeary@wm.com (Waste Management environmental control at the dump)
What to Say:
• where you smelled the odor (driving on Hway 18, Lowes parking lot, walking on Linfield Campus, etc)
• when you smelled the odor (date and time if possible)
• what you smelled -- This is an extra credit detail and is not essential, but sometimes the odor that fills the air is clearly garbage, or diesel, or rotten egg.
Numbers Matter: If possible, send one email each time you smell the dump. It's a numbers game. 4 different emails will go in as 4 complaints.
If you want to elaborate about why the odor bothers you, of course, do that, but you can keep your emails simple, sticking simply to: where, when, and maybe what.
Easy way to send to 4 different email addresses: Make a group in your email address book; maybe call it "Riverbend Stinks" or "Odor"or "Stench" or anything that works for you and include the 4 email contacts shown above. Send your comments to that one address and voila, all 4 contacts will be included. If you can only manage one email address, then make it GARY ANDES ---andes.gary@deq.state.or.us.
People tell us all the time that they smell the stench driving to and from the Coast, Willamina or Sheridan; driving on Pea Vine Road, at Lowes, Albertsons, Roths, Linfield, Bi-Mart,3rd Street, etc. Telling folks like your boss or myself that the dump smells does no good. It only counts if you tell DEQ.
Thank you for helping out yet again. Complaints before the end of the year are important, but then once 2014 rolls around, please keep it up!
Merry, Happy, Joyous, Peaceful, and Garbage-Free wishes to all.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Reduce Waste, Not Trash Bills!
This was the plea of Duncan Reid, a sustainability professional who testified in opposition to Riverbend Landfill's latest attempt to expand. Reid and dozens of others offered Yamhill County Commissioners Kathy George and Allan Springer their opinions at a hearing today on Waste Management's request to rezone the landfill from Public Works/Safety (PWS) to Exclusive Farm Use (EFU).
Rezoning the dump would allow Riverbend to take advantage of a state law that allows landfills sited on farmland to expand onto adjacent high-value farmland. Opponents, however, argue that other state laws prevent a landfill from being zoned EFU. Commissioners will have to decide whether to accept Waste Management's theory that a county has the power to put a parcel of land into any zone it chooses or opponents' contention that only land that meets the state definition of "farmland" may be zoned EFU.
If the landfill is rezoned, nothing prevents it from expanding. If the rezone is denied, the landfill is likely to close when it reaches capacity in 2017.
Waste Management and a host of supporters tried to convince Commissioners George and Springer that closing the local dump would result in business-busting rate increases, while opponents pointed to the many Oregon counties that have both no landfill and thriving economies. Reid's comment was aimed at the several witnesses who focused on their trash bills rather than on the impacts an expanded dump would have on county tourism, agriculture in the Riverbend neighborhood, and downtown McMinnville businesses. Reid urged all parties to expand the conversation to include ways to reduce waste and reuse material now tossed away.
You can add your own comments. Through 5:00 PM Thursday December 19, anyone can submit comments related to the proposed rezone and expansion by contacting Ken Friday at the County Planning Department:
Snail Mail: Yamhill County Planning Department
Comments should focus on whether the county needs a local dump over the next 25 years, the appropriateness of a 122-acre, 13-story high landfill in a farm and tourist area on the banks of a river, the likelihood of reclaiming the existing dump for farm use, and alternative ways our garbage can be handled. Please include your name and snail mail address so that the Planning Department can mail you the Commissioners' decision.
Between December 20th and 5:00 PM Thursday, January 2, anyone may comment on material previously submitted; after January 2, only Waste Management as the applicant may respond. The Commissioners will make their decision on January 16, 2014. Don't let them decide without hearing from you!
Rezoning the dump would allow Riverbend to take advantage of a state law that allows landfills sited on farmland to expand onto adjacent high-value farmland. Opponents, however, argue that other state laws prevent a landfill from being zoned EFU. Commissioners will have to decide whether to accept Waste Management's theory that a county has the power to put a parcel of land into any zone it chooses or opponents' contention that only land that meets the state definition of "farmland" may be zoned EFU.
If the landfill is rezoned, nothing prevents it from expanding. If the rezone is denied, the landfill is likely to close when it reaches capacity in 2017.
Waste Management and a host of supporters tried to convince Commissioners George and Springer that closing the local dump would result in business-busting rate increases, while opponents pointed to the many Oregon counties that have both no landfill and thriving economies. Reid's comment was aimed at the several witnesses who focused on their trash bills rather than on the impacts an expanded dump would have on county tourism, agriculture in the Riverbend neighborhood, and downtown McMinnville businesses. Reid urged all parties to expand the conversation to include ways to reduce waste and reuse material now tossed away.
You can add your own comments. Through 5:00 PM Thursday December 19, anyone can submit comments related to the proposed rezone and expansion by contacting Ken Friday at the County Planning Department:
Email: fridayk@co.yamhill.or.us
Attn: Ken Friday, 525 NE 4th Street, McMinnville, Oregon 97128
Comments should focus on whether the county needs a local dump over the next 25 years, the appropriateness of a 122-acre, 13-story high landfill in a farm and tourist area on the banks of a river, the likelihood of reclaiming the existing dump for farm use, and alternative ways our garbage can be handled. Please include your name and snail mail address so that the Planning Department can mail you the Commissioners' decision.
Between December 20th and 5:00 PM Thursday, January 2, anyone may comment on material previously submitted; after January 2, only Waste Management as the applicant may respond. The Commissioners will make their decision on January 16, 2014. Don't let them decide without hearing from you!
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Are You On The List?
"We Oppose Expansion of Waste Management's Riverbend Landfill - No Zone Change! No Expansion!"
So reads the headline on page 5 of the December 10th News-Register. The rest of the page is filled by the names of six hundred individuals and businesses with ties to Yamhill County.
Children lent their names. Businesses on Third Street in McMinnville. Easterners who've walked historic McPhillips Farm and smelled and seen the landfill firsthand. Shops and residents in Carlton where semis full of garbage pound the streets. Doctors, shop owners, wineries. People who live here. People who visit.
The list will be presented to the County Board of Commissioners on December 12 at a hearing on Waste Management's proposed zone change for the landfill. The hearing begins at 10:00 AM (details below).
On the list? No!! - but you wish you were? Here are three ways to get your name on the list:
1) Send your name by 7:00 AM Thursday, December 12, to Susan Watkins, Stop the Dump Coalition, maczenith@onlinenw.com with a note: "Add my name to the list!" Susan will collect names and attach them to the ad for presentation to the Commissioners at the hearing.
2) Send your name by 10:00 AM Thursday, December 12, directly to Yamhill County Planning Director Mike Brandt, brandtm@co.yamhill.or.us with a note that says something like: "I oppose rezoning and expansion of Riverbend Landfill. To rezone a landfill to agricultural land makes a mockery of Oregon's land use laws. Waste Management has presented no credible plan for returning the dump to agriculture, nor has it explained how land that does not qualify as "agricultural" under state and federal law can be zoned Exclusive Farm Use. Please reject this application."
3) Come to the hearing and WRITE your name onto the list!
WHEN: Thursday, December 12 at 10:00 AM
WHERE: McMinnville Civic Hall, 200 - 2nd Street (corner Baker) McMinnville
WHY: To Stop the Dump!
If you need more information before making up your mind, please read older posts below about why rezoning and expansion of a stinky, noisy, scavenger-friendly dump on the banks of the Yamhill River is a BAD IDEA!
So reads the headline on page 5 of the December 10th News-Register. The rest of the page is filled by the names of six hundred individuals and businesses with ties to Yamhill County.
Children lent their names. Businesses on Third Street in McMinnville. Easterners who've walked historic McPhillips Farm and smelled and seen the landfill firsthand. Shops and residents in Carlton where semis full of garbage pound the streets. Doctors, shop owners, wineries. People who live here. People who visit.
The list will be presented to the County Board of Commissioners on December 12 at a hearing on Waste Management's proposed zone change for the landfill. The hearing begins at 10:00 AM (details below).
On the list? No!! - but you wish you were? Here are three ways to get your name on the list:
1) Send your name by 7:00 AM Thursday, December 12, to Susan Watkins, Stop the Dump Coalition, maczenith@onlinenw.com with a note: "Add my name to the list!" Susan will collect names and attach them to the ad for presentation to the Commissioners at the hearing.
2) Send your name by 10:00 AM Thursday, December 12, directly to Yamhill County Planning Director Mike Brandt, brandtm@co.yamhill.or.us with a note that says something like: "I oppose rezoning and expansion of Riverbend Landfill. To rezone a landfill to agricultural land makes a mockery of Oregon's land use laws. Waste Management has presented no credible plan for returning the dump to agriculture, nor has it explained how land that does not qualify as "agricultural" under state and federal law can be zoned Exclusive Farm Use. Please reject this application."
3) Come to the hearing and WRITE your name onto the list!
WHEN: Thursday, December 12 at 10:00 AM
WHERE: McMinnville Civic Hall, 200 - 2nd Street (corner Baker) McMinnville
WHY: To Stop the Dump!
If you need more information before making up your mind, please read older posts below about why rezoning and expansion of a stinky, noisy, scavenger-friendly dump on the banks of the Yamhill River is a BAD IDEA!
Friday, December 6, 2013
PC Denies Waste Management Rezoning Request!
by Ilsa Perse, President, Stop the Dump Coalition. Arnie Hollander contributed to this article.
It is not often that we get to say "good news" and "dump" in the same sentence, but today we can do just that. Last night at the Yamhill County Planning Commission meeting, the County Planning Department staff recommended that the Commission DENY (yes, DENY) Waste Management's application to rezone the dump to EFU land. Rezoning would have opened the door for the landfill to expand.
This was a stunning turn of events. After some convoluted deliberation, the Commissioners themselves voted against Waste Management's application.
The Planning Department recommendation cited Waste Management's failure to adequately protect Goal 3 values (preservation of farmland) or to demonstrate a need for the proposed uses, and the lack of a reclamation plan for the landfill.
Under state law, a landfill cannot be sited on farmland unless the state Department of Environmental Quality first determines that the site can be reclaimed for farm use. DEQ has yet to make a determination about Riverbend, a 96-acre, 13-story high, 10,000,000-tons of garbage mountain next to a river.
Planning Director Mike Brandt cited testimony by the Stop the Dump Coalition as instrumental in pointing out deficiencies in Waste Management's application.
Waste Management must now make a choice: proceed to an already-scheduled hearing before the County Board of Commissioners set for December 12, knowing that the Planning Department will recommend denial, or withdraw its application and resubmit an "improved" application later.
This puts expansion opponents in a strong position going into the Commissioners' hearing if that is how Waste Management elects to proceed. Of course, this is where YOU come in!
We need your voice!
WHAT: County Commissioners' Meeting on Waste Management's Application to Rezone the Landfill. Approval means the landfill gets to EXPAND.
WHEN: Thursday, December 12, at 10:00 AM
WHERE: McMinnville Civic Hall-200 Second Street McMinnville (corner of Baker)
DETAILS: The entire proceedings from the Planning Commission hearing in November will be forwarded to the County Commissioners. If you weighed in via a letter or spoke at the Planning Commission hearing, the County Commissioners already have your comments.
If you didn't have a chance to voice your concerns earlier in November, or you have something new you would like to add, please send your thoughts to the Yamhill County Planning Department with instructions to place your comments in the record for the COUNTY COMMISSIONERS hearing December 12th.
Email Ken Friday (fridayk@co.yamhill.or.us) at the Yamhill County Planning Department that you do not want the County to rezone the landfill. If you can focus your comments on a demonstrable need for farmland in Yamhill County, the unlikelihood of turning the dump into a farm use, or alternative ways your garbage can be handled, please do so. Please include your name and snail mail address. The Planning Department needs to be able to mail you the decision.
Snail Mail: Yamhill County Planning Department
Attn: Ken Friday
You have all done so much already. However, there is one more hearing where your attendance will make a huge difference.
We hope you can attend on DECEMBER 12th, at 10 AM.
As always, please send me questions and comments.
THANK YOU again for all that you have done.
Ilsa Perse
Stop the Dump Coalition
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