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.