The local News-Register printed Burns' version of the landfill's troubled romance with Yamhill County in its Viewpoints section last Friday, June 9. (You can read the article online here.)
Burns describes the past "nearly eight years" as an effort by WM to work with and learn from Riverbend's neighbors. He can't go back farther than that because nine years ago, WM proposed a "twice as high, twice as wide" expansion that would have quadrupled the landfill's volume. In 2008, 135'-high Riverbend was already the tallest man-made structure in Yamhill County (the equivalent of a 13-story building).
The expansion WM proposed back in 2008 would have added an additional 13 stories and expanded the landfill by 96 football fields (99 acres). "Twice as high, twice as wide" meant a garbage mountain nearly as tall as the Portland skyline, a trash footprint as long and wide as downtown McMinnville, and a smell that would stink up 3rd Street.
Of course, compared to that, everything about the current 29-acre expansion seems puny.
Burns notes:
- the proposed expansion's design "goes beyond" M9.0 (Cascadia Subduction Zone Earthquake) standards. But not the existing portions of the dump.
- a "green tech" alternative to an even bigger landfill will be added. But not for seven years after the state approves the expansion and perhaps not even then; Dave Steiner, WM CEO, told Forbes Magazine last fall that the company was no longer investing in new technologies.
- Yamhill County will lose a strong revenue stream of $1,000,000/year. But WM paid that amount for only about three years, getting the right to pollute our river and our air for decades for a lot less. Moreover, the County can levy its fees on trash haulers instead of landfills and collect the same amount without affecting garbage rates.
- WM has made 450 acres surrounding the dump available for "projects that connect to community values." Although a portion of this land has been put into agricultural production with the goal of generating income for the local food bank, some of the "projects" are 50-year leases that enrich WM.
- the current expansion proposal is "community-driven." The sole reason WM moved away from its "twice as high, twice as wide" plan was community outrage. In the past nine years, Stop the Dump Coalition, its allies, and hundreds of citizen activists have raised their voices to protest WM's plans to exploit our County merely to enhance WM's bottom line.
You can continue this tradition of speaking out -- write the News Register a letter today (deadline for Friday's paper is noon Wednesday). Tell the paper, its readers, and WM what you think of proposals to expand Riverbend Landfill: http://newsregister.com/submit-letter.
PS. "140 letters" refers to the number of characters in a tweet. Can we submit 140 actual letters to the editor? Write now!
Note: Article updated 6-13-17 to reflect new information about the 450-acre "stewardship" lands.
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