Coalition Appeals Dump Decision

The Stop the Dump Coalition, representing fifty local business Partners and hundreds of additional individuals and businesses, today filed its Notice of Intent to Appeal Yamhill County's decision to rezone Riverbend Landfill as farmland.

The appeal comes just days after leachate leaked from the dump and contaminated neighboring farm fields.

Yamhill County Commissioners voted on February 12, 2014, to rezone the landfill to Exclusive Farm Use (EFU).  Rezoning Riverbend, a man-made stinking mountain comprising more than 12 million tons of trash, is the first step on what the County and Waste Management, the dump's owner (WM), hope will be a path to landfill expansion.

Waste Management proposes to extend the landfill onto 37 farmable acres next door, an expansion that would dump another 20+ years of garbage alongside the County's major tourist highway and the banks of the South Yamhill River.  WM sought the rezone because state law allows only "existing" dumps in EFU zones to expand onto high-value EFU soils.

The Commissioners' contempt for Oregon land use law is blatant.  To justify this rezone, the Commissioners had to call the landfill (which will endure hundreds of years) a "temporary" non-farm use and to pretend that a dump is a farm in order to convert an actual farm next door into a dump.  This kind of nonsensical reasoning flies in the face of Oregon's land use law, which is designed specifically to preserve farmland.

The Commissioners also ignored the voices of thousands of citizens they are supposed to represent, citing a lack of evidence about the dump's negative impacts despite contrary testimony from neighbors and area farmers.  The County's shortsightedness overlooks the real economic and environmental impacts of an enormous regional dump in a popular tourist area and shows the Commissioners' utter lack of concern for the health and safety of future generations.

- photo design by Marilyn Higginson

To stop this madness, the Stop the Dump Coalition is taking the case to the state Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA).  They are joined by the Willamette Valley Wineries Association, Friends of Yamhill County, and landfill neighbor McPhillips Farms, Inc.  The City of McMinnville, the Oregon Wine Board, the Yamhill County Farm Bureau, the County Planning Commission, and hundreds of individuals and businesses who signed an ad in the News-Register or testified at public hearings are also on record as opposing expansion of this growing pile of unsorted waste.

The appeal will ask LUBA to find that a landfill cannot be zoned a farm under Oregon law.  LUBA has the power to throw out the County's decision entirely, which would mean the dump could not be expanded.  Alternatively, LUBA could send the case back to the County with instructions to reconsider specific findings.

You can help the Stop the Dump Coalition and its fellow petitioners derail Riverbend Landfill's expansion plans.  Use our "Donate" button to send your contribution to the Coalition's legal fund.  The Coalition recently received $5,000 from anonymous donors to help pay up-front LUBA filing fees and attorney fees.  Though this is a terrific start, the estimated cost to fight dump expansion and take the appeal to LUBA is $20,000. 

If you wish to donate but prefer not to use Paypal, contact Coalition President Ilsa Perse at ilsap@earthlink.net.

The Stop the Dump Coalition is grateful for the support of all donors, large and small.  Every dollar is needed and appreciated.  Please contribute today!  We can't do this without you.