Commissioners Seek Input on Closing Riverbend

As previously reported, the Yamhill County Board of Commissioners is in the midst of a public hearing on the fate of Riverbend Landfill.  Back in 2104, the landfill asked the Board to allow it to expand to within 50' of Highway 18.  Though the Board agreed, a series of court decisions has sent the matter back to the Commissioners to take another look at two key issues:

*  whether the various impacts to area farms that have been adversely impacted by the dump's operations add up to a "significant" effect on those farms' farming practices, and

*  whether litter from the landfill can be reduced such that it will not "significantly" affect the McPhillips Farm's practices.

If the Board finds either that, cumulatively, several impacts on any single farm (including McPhillips Farm) amount to a significant effect OR that litter even when reduced has a significant effect on McPhillips Farm, then the landfill cannot expand.

Although these are the only issues technically before the Board, it doesn't hurt to let your Commissioners know how you feel about having an enormous, smelly dump in the middle of our scenic farmland.

Expansion opponents gather at the County Courthouse Thursday, July 9, 2020.  As the sign on the right indicates, they have been explaining why expansion is a bad idea since 2008.  Photo by Craig Markham.

We might be more inclined to support the landfill if we needed it.  But right now, today, there are hundreds of years of capacity in other landfills in northwestern Oregon and vicinity.  Already the City of McMinnville sends its waste to one of those other landfills, Coffin Butte.

(This chart put together by Metro, 2015.  Both Columbia Ridge and Riverbend are owned by Waste Management.)

Yamhill County doesn't need a problematic expansion; it just needs a garbage company willing to make less money.

Send your comments to Planning Director Ken Friday at fridayk@co.yamhill.or.us by 5:00 PM Thursday, July 16.  You then have another week (till 5:00 PM Thursday, July 23) to rebut any material previously submitted.

To see comment already submitted by both Riverbend and opponents, visit the County Planning website.