Yes, Riverbend Landfill is hosting its semi-annual air quality meeting Tuesday, April 16, at Chemeketa Community College in McMinnville. Landfill personnel will present information about well-drilling and gas collection at the dump and answer audience questions. DEQ -- the state Department of Environmental Quality -- will also have a representative at the meeting.
Big questions for the landfill center on the Odor Nuisance Study conducted there by DEQ in 2017. After spending a year sampling the air (by smelling it, using individuals trained to detect different odors and to judge odor strength), DEQ took another full year to "analyze" the data.
Mind you, this was not a lab analysis; the only data to analyze were notes on pieces of paper.
Yamhill County expected to receive the results this past winter, only to learn that the study had been put on hold after the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took an interest in Riverbend. Neither the EPA nor DEQ has been forthcoming on the exact nature of the EPA investigation, and there is as yet no word on when either agency will complete its work. Perhaps Riverbend or DEQ will have more to say at Tuesday's meeting.
DEQ has been under the gun lately after a series of articles in the Oregonian highlighted problems with the agency's oversight of industries it regulates, including those belching foul odors. You can read about these problems here.
To attend the air quality meeting:
Tuesday, April 16, 6:00 pm for pizza and chat; 7:00 pm for the presentation
Chemeketa Community College
288 NE Norton Lane, McMinnville
Building 1, Room #105
