Even though ...
* Waste Management (WM) last week asked the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to allow it to dump 490,000 additional tons of waste atop the dump -- without notifying neighbors;
* WM asked the Yamhill County Planning Department to send DEQ a Land Use Compatibility Statement (LUCS) approving the additional garbage;
* Both the County and WM are parties to a lawsuit brought by the Stop
the Dump Coalition (STDC) and its allies that challenges, among other
activities, adding new garbage to old cells atop the landfill;
* The Oregon Court of Appeals has yet to rule on appeals in the lawsuit;
* State law, ORS 215.296, requires a County to find that some uses, including garbage dumping, will not force changes in or increase costs to surrounding farm practices before approving those uses;
* Per STDC's lawyer, Jeff Klein, "[I]t would be improper to sign off on or transmit a LUCS when [the County does] not have a new land use application before [it] or essentially the same subject matter remains under appeal, much less both. Accordingly, the new application for LUCS must be denied or at least held in abeyance until [the County has] legal authority to process it."
* The County granted WM's request anyway -- with no notice, no hearing, no findings.
Even though ...
* We must still continue to fight....
We have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, namely that the 96-acre expansion WM originally proposed in summer 2008 will never be built!
THANK YOU to all the neighbors, businesses, community leaders, County residents, tourists, and visitors who have made this victory possible! We're almost there!
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