Thomas asked everyone in the audience who lives in the Metro region to email or call their Metro Councilor. Tell them, Thomas said, that you don't want your garbage going to a leaking landfill sitting on a river in a seismic hazard zone.
Metro trash makes up 70% of the waste that comes to Riverbend Landfill -- 70% of the garbage that covers the best farmland in the Willamette Valley, which means in the world.
One impact that Riverbend has on its Yamhill County community will soon be studied by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) -- the horrendous odor. Riverbend will be only the third odor emitter in the state to be investigated by DEQ since Oregon adopted its Nuisance Odor Strategy a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, the study is expected to take a full year.
Once investigators establish that the dump does, indeed, smell, then a panel will determine the steps Waste Management, Riverbend's Texas-based corporate owner, must take to reduce or eliminate that smell.
However, other key metrics are not being studied: (1) how well the landfill will fare when the Big One -- the 9.0 Cascadia Subduction Zone quake -- strikes (some of the landfill was built to withstand a 7.25 quake and some without regard to seismic considerations at all); (2) the affect of leachate leaks on ground and river water; and (3) the full character of the gases emitted by the dump.
The Stop the Dump Coalition has urged DEQ and the Yamhill County Board of Commissioners again and again to look into these matters. They aren't listening -- but you can ask Metro to listen! Ask your friends in Washington, Multnomah, and Clackamas Counties to contact their Metro Councilors now!
And a HUGE THANK YOU to Thomas and to Pink Martini!
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