Stop the Dump Files Appeal

The Stop the Dump Coalition has appealed the Planning Commission's decision to approve expansion of Riverbend Landfill.  The appeal was filed by STDC President Ilsa Perse on January 30.

The Yamhill County Planning Commission (PC) narrowly approved the proposed expansion subject to a number of conditions.  The most stringent condition prohibited use of an area north of the existing dump for landfill purposes.  That area, dubbed Module 10, would bring the landfill within 2 miles of McMinnville, the County's largest city and a vocal opponent of expansion.

The appeal cites 23 "deficiencies and violations" in the PC decision.  These range from violations of the Endangered Species Act (because landfill owner Riverbend Landfill Co. (RLC) has yet to prove the expansion will not negatively impact the South Yamhill River's critical habitat for spring chinook salmon and winter steelhead trout) to violations of the County's Site Design Review ordinance (for a host of reasons, including failure to adequately address the loss of high-value farmland or to accurately describe existing farm uses in the area or how those will be impacted) to use of the wrong approval procedure (given that the existing landfill is a nonconforming use, as conceded by RLC in its application to expand).


The County Board of Commissioners (BOC) will hear the appeal.  Planning Director Mike Brandt has suggested the appeal may not be heard until March. According to Brandt, neither appellants nor RLC will be limited to the matters cited in the appeal document when presenting evidence and arguments during the hearing.  This means community members who want to argue other grounds for denying -- or approving -- the expansion will be able to do so without filing their own appeal.

Unfortunately for those in the community who want the landfill to close when it reaches capacity, the BOC is considered a more dump-friendly board than the PC is.  With the filing of an appeal, Waste Management, which owns RLC, can ask the BOC to reject the conditions imposed by the PC and approve the expansion with Module 10 intact.