Just in --The McMinnville City Council last night (the 27th) voted 5-0 to turn down Waste Management's offer of cash for, well, for just being a city within the jurisdiction of the county that must rule on its application to expand.
With Kevin Jeffries taking the lead, the Council made clear that taking money from a garbage dump that wants to expand closer to McMinnville, and that is opposed by 90% of the members of the Willamette Valley Wineries Association, is not in the City's best interests.
McMinnville has taken several actions recently to make itself a more "sustainable" city, including training city employees and developing a Sustainability Action Plan. Assisting in the addition of yet more landfill capacity would violate the Plan's objectives, according to Council members.
To the delight of all who oppose increasing the bloat of waste sitting on the South Yamhill River, the City remains firmly opposed to landfill expansion.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Garbage In (from Metro), Leachate Out
Today, Wednesday, January 21, marked the annual landfill tour by the Solid Waste Advisory Committee, the Yamhill County citizen board with oversight on the landfill. SWAC meetings, include the landfill tour, are open to the public, and Ilsa Perse, President of the Stop the Dump Coalition, was along for the ride on today's tour. This is her report:
"The New Year brings even more out-of-county garbage to our bucolic Landfill-by-the-River. Yamhill County now contributes only 25% of the trash hauled to the dump, down 5% from last year, with garbage from the Metro area contributing almost 65% of all the trash brought to Riverbend. Waste Management spokeswoman Jackie Lang attributes the drop in local trash to (1) diverting the ash from SP Fiber Technology in Newberg to Hillsboro and (2) recycling construction and demolition debris left at the Newberg transfer station. The better the diversion rate in Yamhill County, the more room the landfill will have for other counties' garbage. Such a deal.
"But best of all is the quantity of leachate produced by all this garbage. In 2013, over 19 MILLION GALLONS of toxic leachate were drained out of the dump. What becomes of all this leachate? It is hauled in tanker trucks every day through the county to municipal waste water treatment plants some place else. Bill Carr, a senior manager at Riverbend Landfill, commented on how a landfill in the rainy part of the state made a whole lot of leachate. Before he could retract this somewhat damning statement, a participant on the tour chimed in, 'You know how to solve the problem, don't you?' The question went unanswered."
If you are one of the many County residents who believes we should take care of our own waste, these statistics probably have you tearing out your hair.
"What," you shout, "you mean we are sacrificing our river (which provides irrigation and drinking water to farms and communities downstream), our air (think both stink and green house gases), our farmland (some buried in waste, more under attack from vermin and vectors attracted to the vicinity by the dump), and our tourist economy (who wants to stop at smelly, ugly McMinnville or drive past a humongous pile of garbage just to reach another winery or produce stand?), all so that Portland Metro can bring its filth here -- and then we still have to dump our liquid waste somewhere else??"
Something is definitely wrong with this picture. When the expansion proposal goes to the Board of Commissioners, tell them enough is enough. It's time to STOP THE DUMP! We are not Metro's garbage pit.
"The New Year brings even more out-of-county garbage to our bucolic Landfill-by-the-River. Yamhill County now contributes only 25% of the trash hauled to the dump, down 5% from last year, with garbage from the Metro area contributing almost 65% of all the trash brought to Riverbend. Waste Management spokeswoman Jackie Lang attributes the drop in local trash to (1) diverting the ash from SP Fiber Technology in Newberg to Hillsboro and (2) recycling construction and demolition debris left at the Newberg transfer station. The better the diversion rate in Yamhill County, the more room the landfill will have for other counties' garbage. Such a deal.
"But best of all is the quantity of leachate produced by all this garbage. In 2013, over 19 MILLION GALLONS of toxic leachate were drained out of the dump. What becomes of all this leachate? It is hauled in tanker trucks every day through the county to municipal waste water treatment plants some place else. Bill Carr, a senior manager at Riverbend Landfill, commented on how a landfill in the rainy part of the state made a whole lot of leachate. Before he could retract this somewhat damning statement, a participant on the tour chimed in, 'You know how to solve the problem, don't you?' The question went unanswered."
If you are one of the many County residents who believes we should take care of our own waste, these statistics probably have you tearing out your hair.
"What," you shout, "you mean we are sacrificing our river (which provides irrigation and drinking water to farms and communities downstream), our air (think both stink and green house gases), our farmland (some buried in waste, more under attack from vermin and vectors attracted to the vicinity by the dump), and our tourist economy (who wants to stop at smelly, ugly McMinnville or drive past a humongous pile of garbage just to reach another winery or produce stand?), all so that Portland Metro can bring its filth here -- and then we still have to dump our liquid waste somewhere else??"
Something is definitely wrong with this picture. When the expansion proposal goes to the Board of Commissioners, tell them enough is enough. It's time to STOP THE DUMP! We are not Metro's garbage pit.
Friday, January 16, 2015
Planning Department Sets Likely Appeal Schedule
The Yamhill County Planning Department plans to act today (Friday, January 16) to issue a letter outlining general instructions for appealing last night's Planning Commission's decision, which authorized expansion of Riverbend Landfill. Presumably all persons who signed into the initial PC hearing or who submitted evidence afterwards will receive the letter.
According to Planning Director Mike Brandt, the deadline for filing an appeal will be February 2, a Monday. The fee to file is $250. Once one party has filed, Brandt says, the process is initiated for all parties. "Regardless of who appeals or what the basis of their appeal, other relevant issues may be brought up during the review/hearing process" by any other person.
Brandt adds, "I have already confirmed with (County) Board (of Commissioners) Chairman (Allen Springer) that they will hold the appeal hearing on this matter de novo." Hearing the matter "de novo" means starting over from the beginning, with all findings and decisions up for grabs. However, according to Brandt, "The PC record will be made part of the Board review on appeal." Evidence and arguments submitted to the Planning Commission will therefore not have to be repeated before the Board.
The decision adopted by the Planning Commission included a number of stringent conditions that will affect the ultimate appearance, capacity, and operation of the landfill if the PC decision is not appealed. With an appeal sure to be filed, however, applicant Riverbend Landfill Co. (RLC) can contest these conditions.
Because the County must give at least 20 days' notice of a hearing, the earliest the appeal is likely to be taken up is February 26. The Planning Department has determined that April 4 is the final legal date for the County to act unless RLC is willing to agree to an extension of time. However, that is a Saturday, so the County will treat the deadline as Friday, April 3. If the County fails to issue a decision by that date, state law gives RLC the option of asking a court to compel the County to grant approval.
For more details about the appeal process, Brandt suggests reviewing Section 1404 of the County Zoning Ordinance, in particular, Sections 1404.02 and 1404.03. And look for your letter in the mail.
According to Planning Director Mike Brandt, the deadline for filing an appeal will be February 2, a Monday. The fee to file is $250. Once one party has filed, Brandt says, the process is initiated for all parties. "Regardless of who appeals or what the basis of their appeal, other relevant issues may be brought up during the review/hearing process" by any other person.
Brandt adds, "I have already confirmed with (County) Board (of Commissioners) Chairman (Allen Springer) that they will hold the appeal hearing on this matter de novo." Hearing the matter "de novo" means starting over from the beginning, with all findings and decisions up for grabs. However, according to Brandt, "The PC record will be made part of the Board review on appeal." Evidence and arguments submitted to the Planning Commission will therefore not have to be repeated before the Board.
The decision adopted by the Planning Commission included a number of stringent conditions that will affect the ultimate appearance, capacity, and operation of the landfill if the PC decision is not appealed. With an appeal sure to be filed, however, applicant Riverbend Landfill Co. (RLC) can contest these conditions.
Because the County must give at least 20 days' notice of a hearing, the earliest the appeal is likely to be taken up is February 26. The Planning Department has determined that April 4 is the final legal date for the County to act unless RLC is willing to agree to an extension of time. However, that is a Saturday, so the County will treat the deadline as Friday, April 3. If the County fails to issue a decision by that date, state law gives RLC the option of asking a court to compel the County to grant approval.
For more details about the appeal process, Brandt suggests reviewing Section 1404 of the County Zoning Ordinance, in particular, Sections 1404.02 and 1404.03. And look for your letter in the mail.
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Planning Commission Approves Expansion
The Planning Commission voted 3-2 Thursday night to approve expansion of Riverbend Landfill. The vote was small because one commissioner recused himself and another was absent.
The approval comes with a long series of conditions, including -- for the first time -- conditions requiring the landfill to meet DEQ permit standards in order to stay in business.
Chief among the conditions is that the proposed 8-acre expansion to the north of the existing landfill ("Module 10") not be used for disposal of waste. That effectively kills any expansion toward McMinnville. County Planning Director Mike Brandt also hoped that removing expansion northward would minimize continuing impacts on neighboring McPhillips farm, which has been hard hit by odors, noise, bird and animal predation, and water discharges.
Noise, odor, and dust are three impacts DEQ ostensibly regulates. Now the County will enforce the DEQ standards.
In addition, the conditions recognize that the proposal submitted to the County is preliminary and requires Waste Management to bring its final site development plan back to the County for review. In addition, if DEQ or another agency requires any revision to the plan as approved by the County, that revision must be returned to the County for approval.
The conditions also address the appearance of the expansion, mandating enhanced screening of both construction and waste disposal via a detailed planting and maintenance regime, shielded lighting, and well-designed roads, fences, and signage.
The Commission acted after receiving advice from County Counsel that it could not consider impacts from existing landfill activities when determining whether the dump has forced significant changes in local farm practices. While most Commissioners believed that farm practices in the vicinity of the dump have indeed been adversely affected, they felt the culprit was the existing landfill and not the proposed expansion. The majority were not willing to find that continuing these egregious impacts for an additional 15-20 years constituted the kind of impact that violated statutory standards.
The next step in the process is appeal to the County Board of Commissioners, which has historically ignored Planning Commission votes on Riverbend. Brandt pointed out that time is tight; unless Waste Management waives time, the County must act no later than March 31, 2015, or risk having WM sue in court for an order compelling approval of the expansion. An appeal must be filed by January 30.
To register your reaction to the Planning Commission decision, visit our Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/stopriverbendlandfill.
The approval comes with a long series of conditions, including -- for the first time -- conditions requiring the landfill to meet DEQ permit standards in order to stay in business.
Chief among the conditions is that the proposed 8-acre expansion to the north of the existing landfill ("Module 10") not be used for disposal of waste. That effectively kills any expansion toward McMinnville. County Planning Director Mike Brandt also hoped that removing expansion northward would minimize continuing impacts on neighboring McPhillips farm, which has been hard hit by odors, noise, bird and animal predation, and water discharges.
Noise, odor, and dust are three impacts DEQ ostensibly regulates. Now the County will enforce the DEQ standards.
In addition, the conditions recognize that the proposal submitted to the County is preliminary and requires Waste Management to bring its final site development plan back to the County for review. In addition, if DEQ or another agency requires any revision to the plan as approved by the County, that revision must be returned to the County for approval.
The conditions also address the appearance of the expansion, mandating enhanced screening of both construction and waste disposal via a detailed planting and maintenance regime, shielded lighting, and well-designed roads, fences, and signage.
The Commission acted after receiving advice from County Counsel that it could not consider impacts from existing landfill activities when determining whether the dump has forced significant changes in local farm practices. While most Commissioners believed that farm practices in the vicinity of the dump have indeed been adversely affected, they felt the culprit was the existing landfill and not the proposed expansion. The majority were not willing to find that continuing these egregious impacts for an additional 15-20 years constituted the kind of impact that violated statutory standards.
The next step in the process is appeal to the County Board of Commissioners, which has historically ignored Planning Commission votes on Riverbend. Brandt pointed out that time is tight; unless Waste Management waives time, the County must act no later than March 31, 2015, or risk having WM sue in court for an order compelling approval of the expansion. An appeal must be filed by January 30.
To register your reaction to the Planning Commission decision, visit our Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/stopriverbendlandfill.
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Planning Commission to Rule Tonight
Tonight, Thursday, January 15, the Yamhill County Planning Commission is scheduled to decide whether to approve or deny Riverbend Landfill Co.'s proposal to expand the dump.
County Planning staff will lead off the meeting with a recommendation. Given that a great many legal issues have been raised by expansion opponents, a legal opinion might also be offered. No testimony will be taken.
The PC has rejected previous efforts by the landfill to expand, but the ground rules have changed. Now, the County Zoning Ordinance specifically allows landfills located wholly within the EFU zone to expand. And the County last year rezoned the lots on which the landfill sits to EFU.
However, opponents have questioned whether the law allows a recently rezoned landfill to expand. The approval process followed by the County has also been challenged by opponents.
Whatever the PC decides, the matter is sure to be appealed to the County Board of Commissioners and a new round of hearings held.
Tonight's meeting will be held at 7:00 PM at the McMinnville Civic Center on the corner of 2nd & Baker Streets in McMinnville. Parking is available in the lot on 1st Street behind the building.
County Planning staff will lead off the meeting with a recommendation. Given that a great many legal issues have been raised by expansion opponents, a legal opinion might also be offered. No testimony will be taken.
The PC has rejected previous efforts by the landfill to expand, but the ground rules have changed. Now, the County Zoning Ordinance specifically allows landfills located wholly within the EFU zone to expand. And the County last year rezoned the lots on which the landfill sits to EFU.
However, opponents have questioned whether the law allows a recently rezoned landfill to expand. The approval process followed by the County has also been challenged by opponents.
Whatever the PC decides, the matter is sure to be appealed to the County Board of Commissioners and a new round of hearings held.
Tonight's meeting will be held at 7:00 PM at the McMinnville Civic Center on the corner of 2nd & Baker Streets in McMinnville. Parking is available in the lot on 1st Street behind the building.
Monday, January 5, 2015
Stop the Dump in the News!
The landfill expansion is becoming big news.
First the Portland Tribune featured Metro's decision to evaluate regional landfill capacity when making decisions about where to send Metro's waste. The article noted "the concerns raised by farmers, business owners and residents in Yamhill County during the past few years about a proposed expansion of Riverbend Landfill." Read the full story here.
Then last week the Willamette Valley News-Register detailed comments submitted to the Yamhill County Planning Commission as part of the ongoing hearing on Riverbend's current expansion bid. See article "Opponents 64, Landfill 1" below for details.
Now KOIN News 6 has featured the expansion battle in a series of short pieces on the nightly news. News anchor Ken Boddie interviewed several Riverbend neighbors (including this writer) and Jackie Lang, PR spokeswoman for Waste Management. A summary of the report can be seen at koin.com/2015/01/05/a-landfill-expansion-in-oregons-wine-country.
The show makes a good effort to provide a balanced assessment of expansion pros and cons. As usual with TV sound bites, however, important information is left out. For example, KOIN cites the landfill's contention that expansion will not impact the Yamhill River floodplain -- an assertion that is patently untrue. The broadcast also made note of the so-called "stewardship lands," which Waste Management linked to the expansion as buffer areas. In reality, these acres have nothing whatsoever to do with expansion as Riverbend has promised to dedicate them to farming and similar uses whether or not the expansion is approved.
TV is a powerful medium, however, and the images of a muddy, messy landfill beside the river will linger.
And for more news about the community's reaction to Waste Management's efforts to expand, check out our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/stopriverbendlandfill.
First the Portland Tribune featured Metro's decision to evaluate regional landfill capacity when making decisions about where to send Metro's waste. The article noted "the concerns raised by farmers, business owners and residents in Yamhill County during the past few years about a proposed expansion of Riverbend Landfill." Read the full story here.
Then last week the Willamette Valley News-Register detailed comments submitted to the Yamhill County Planning Commission as part of the ongoing hearing on Riverbend's current expansion bid. See article "Opponents 64, Landfill 1" below for details.
Now KOIN News 6 has featured the expansion battle in a series of short pieces on the nightly news. News anchor Ken Boddie interviewed several Riverbend neighbors (including this writer) and Jackie Lang, PR spokeswoman for Waste Management. A summary of the report can be seen at koin.com/2015/01/05/a-landfill-expansion-in-oregons-wine-country.
The show makes a good effort to provide a balanced assessment of expansion pros and cons. As usual with TV sound bites, however, important information is left out. For example, KOIN cites the landfill's contention that expansion will not impact the Yamhill River floodplain -- an assertion that is patently untrue. The broadcast also made note of the so-called "stewardship lands," which Waste Management linked to the expansion as buffer areas. In reality, these acres have nothing whatsoever to do with expansion as Riverbend has promised to dedicate them to farming and similar uses whether or not the expansion is approved.
TV is a powerful medium, however, and the images of a muddy, messy landfill beside the river will linger.
And for more news about the community's reaction to Waste Management's efforts to expand, check out our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/stopriverbendlandfill.
Friday, January 2, 2015
Opponents 64, Landfill 1
64 to 1: That's the "score" following the December 31 deadline for submitting evidence and comments about Riverbend Landfill's proposed expansion to the Planning Commission. According to the Yamhill Valley News-Register, as of the deadline the County had received 64 written comments asking the Commission to reject the expansion, 1 in favor, and 1 neutral.
The Commission will consider the comments, receive a recommendation from the Planning staff, and vote at its January 15 meeting. The public is invited to attend, but cannot testify as the hearing itself is considered closed except for a final rebuttal from the landfill, due January 8.
What that rebuttal includes will be interesting indeed. To date, Riverbend Landfill Co. (RLC), the landfill's owner, and its corporate parent Waste Management have offered little by way of substantive data to support their claim that there is a need for the landfill to expand.
In fact, at the initial Planning Commission hearing in December, RLC claimed the County had already approved the expansion! RLC cited the County's 2014 decision to rezone the land the existing landfill sits on from Public Works Safety (the only zone that allows landfills in the County) to Exclusive Farm Use (EFU).
That rezoning positioned RLC to request an expansion by allowing the landfill to try to take advantage of a state rule that lets landfills in the EFU zone expand under some circumstances.
RLC, however, has yet to actually request permission to expand.
Moreover, many of the "facts" RLC submitted in favor of expansion contradict statements Waste Management officials have publicly stated in past years, such as how much waste is collected from SP Newsprint in Newberg (WM reps have told the public that it diverts most of that waste to other landfills) and whether the landfill attracts birds to the area (WM reps have publicly blamed previous managers for allowing birds to congregate at the dump and get used to wintering in the vicinity).
Nearly half of the waste dumped at Riverbend comes from the Portland Metro area. Another 20% comes from other counties. Only about a third of the waste originates in Yamhill County.
The January 15 Planning Commission meeting will be held at McMinnville Civic Hall, corner of 2nd and Baker, beginning at 7:00 pm.
The Commission will consider the comments, receive a recommendation from the Planning staff, and vote at its January 15 meeting. The public is invited to attend, but cannot testify as the hearing itself is considered closed except for a final rebuttal from the landfill, due January 8.
What that rebuttal includes will be interesting indeed. To date, Riverbend Landfill Co. (RLC), the landfill's owner, and its corporate parent Waste Management have offered little by way of substantive data to support their claim that there is a need for the landfill to expand.
In fact, at the initial Planning Commission hearing in December, RLC claimed the County had already approved the expansion! RLC cited the County's 2014 decision to rezone the land the existing landfill sits on from Public Works Safety (the only zone that allows landfills in the County) to Exclusive Farm Use (EFU).
That rezoning positioned RLC to request an expansion by allowing the landfill to try to take advantage of a state rule that lets landfills in the EFU zone expand under some circumstances.
RLC, however, has yet to actually request permission to expand.
Moreover, many of the "facts" RLC submitted in favor of expansion contradict statements Waste Management officials have publicly stated in past years, such as how much waste is collected from SP Newsprint in Newberg (WM reps have told the public that it diverts most of that waste to other landfills) and whether the landfill attracts birds to the area (WM reps have publicly blamed previous managers for allowing birds to congregate at the dump and get used to wintering in the vicinity).
Nearly half of the waste dumped at Riverbend comes from the Portland Metro area. Another 20% comes from other counties. Only about a third of the waste originates in Yamhill County.
The January 15 Planning Commission meeting will be held at McMinnville Civic Hall, corner of 2nd and Baker, beginning at 7:00 pm.
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