Riverbend Landfill has notified the Oregon Court of Appeals that it will contest a lower court ruling denying its drive to expand. Last month, the state Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) upheld Yamhill County's decision to reject Riverbend's expansion request.
The landfill currently encompasses about 87 acres between Highway 18 and the South Yamhill River just outside McMinnville. Riverbend, owned by Texas-based international behemoth Waste Management, first applied to expand back in 2008, the so-called "twice as wide, twice as high" application. Over the years, following a host of adverse court decisions, the landfill reduced its request to a 29-acre site that would bring a 90-foot-high wall of garbage within 50' of Highway 18.
After the Oregon Supreme Court ruled in essence that Riverbend can expand only if it keeps litter from escaping from the dump to land on nearby farms, the landfill presented a convoluted plan involving movable fences and quick response teams to move them. Unfortunately for Riverbend, not even its own witnesses supported the plan, and the County easily rejected it.
LUBA rejected the landfill's appeal just as easily, so now the company's only option is to keep appealing. If Riverbend loses in the courts, it will be difficult to return to the County Board of Commissioners with a new expansion application, even if a new Board likes the idea of a huge, smelly, dump in the middle of wine country. The litter findings will haunt the dump forever.
Riverbend must submit its opening brief by May 20.
Nicole Montesano of Yamhill County's News-Register has written an excellent article about the dump and its expansion-seeking history. Subscribers can find the article here.
