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.
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