Air Quality Meeting Coming Up!

Riverbend Landfill will hold an Air Quality meeting this coming Wednesday, April 28, at 7:00 PM.  The meeting will be virtual.

Air Quality meetings are required twice yearly by the dump's air pollution permit.  (Because the McMinnville area has relatively clean air, noxious gas emitters like Riverbend are allowed to pollute it.)  The public is invited, but you must register (see below).

Attendees at the meeting are sure to ask Riverbend's representatives about the Notice of Violation (NOV) issued last year by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  The NOV disclosed that Riverbend has violated federal law for years by failing to locate, report, and fix leaking "cover" on the landfill.  Riverbend has maintained that its discussions with the EPA are confidential, but much of the data appears on the EPA's public website, and the NOV itself is public.

The dump has also been stinking strongly the past few weeks, and neighbors and commuters will want to know why.

Finally, attendees may also be interested in Riverbend's plans for the future now that the state Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) has upheld the County's rejection of the dump's expansion effort.

Be prepared to receive no answer to any of your questions.

To register for the virtual meeting, contact Kendra Thompson, Waste Management Operations Specialist, Sr. - Landfill, at kthomp19@wm.com.  She will send you a link to the meeting.  Be aware that Waste Management uses Microsoft Teams for its meetings, a platform that has given would-be users trouble in the past.