McMinnville to Include Landfill in Emergency Planning

The McMinnville City Council heard a report from Chief Rich Leipfert and Doug Cummings of the City Fire Department regarding the City's emergency management plan last Tuesday night.  The report initially made no mention of Riverbend Landfill or the impact damage to the dump by a severe earthquake could have on the South Yamhill River and Highway 18.

None of the existing landfill is built to withstand the magnitude 9.0 Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) earthquake expected to shake Oregon's coast within the next few decades.  This "Big One" strikes offshore every 300 years or so -- and it's already been longer than that since the last large quake.  An earthquake of this size is expected to damage bridges, buildings, and other structures even farther inland than McMinnville and Riverbend.  In fact, one expert has been widely quoted as saying that "Everything west of I-5 will be toast."

The landfill is riddled with gas pipes and wells (for venting gas or directing it to electricity generators) and is protected from the river by only a low earthen berm.  River water already washes through several unlined cells during frequent floods.  The earthquake is likely to tear apart the dump's internal structures and breach the berms, releasing millions of tons of waste, gas, and leachate, much of it toxic, into the river channel.

This waste could flow downstream, contaminating the Willamette River, and also dam the channel, creating upstream flooding.  Large waste materials may also hang up on collapsed bridge structures downstream, further complicating rescue and recovery operations.

Audience members were surprised to hear no mention of Riverbend during the planning report, but pleased with the immediate attention given to the landfill once the matter was brought to the Council's attention.  Mayor Rick Olson agreed that the landfill posed a serious threat and thanked the audience for raising the issue.  Fire Chief Leipfert, who leads the emergency response effort, immediately promised to add the landfill to the "hazard list."

It was also suggested that the City ask Waste Management, Riverbend's Texas-based corporate owner, to develop a disaster plan to assist the city in preparing for the coming emergency.