Slide on Riverbend Perimeter Berm

First there's a leachate leak.  Now there's been a slide on the berm that separates Riverbend Landfill from the South Yamhill River and its associated wetlands.

As reported here last month, leachate leaked from the landfill into McPhillips Creek during winter storms.  The cause?  Landfill operatives closed pipes into leachate collection tanks because trucks that pump out excess leachate couldn't negotiate snowy roads, and the operators worried that the tanks might overflow.  The result?  Leachate that would normally flow to the tanks diverted into the creek instead.

Now we learn there's been a landslide on the 4,500-foot long "perimeter" flood control berm.   This berm, which surrounds the existing landfill, has not been studied to current earthquake standards -- magnitude 9.0 -- although portions, including the section that failed, were engineered to withstand a 7.25 earthquake.

That a berm engineered to 7.25 should fail during a good rain should concern everyone given that river flood waters routinely lap up to this berm.  Moreover, this is not the first time that there have been stability problems with the perimeter berm.  A portion of the berm failed and was repaired in the past.

If trucks essential to landfill operations cannot reach the landfill during a snow and ice storm, what will happen when the next big earthquake knocks down all of our bridges?  If the perimeter flood control berm fails during a heavy rain, what will keep it standing during an earthquake?  February's leachate spill is just a hint of continuing problems to come.  DEQ should fine Riverbend (and we hope they do), but make no mistake:  This problem does not have a solution, and will continue as long garbage remains on the river bank -- which will be hundreds of years.

Unfortunately Yamhill County has just exacerbated this unsolvable problem, voting to rezone the landfill as a first step toward a twenty-year expansion that will will add nearly 3,000 more feet to the flood control berm.

For more information about the leachate leak, check DEQ's Riverbend website, www.deq.state.or.us/nwr/RiverbendLandfill.htm.  An investigation of the leak and photos of the muddy work areas are described toward the bottom of the site under "Other Issues."  While it's investigating the leak, DEQ should also order Riverbend to clean up the filthy roadway at the entrance to the dump, repair and rebuild the perimeter berm to withstand the expected 9.0 Cascadia earthquake, and handle daily cover and erosion issues in accordance with law.


Leonard Rydell contributed to this article.