EPA Fines Riverbend (Finally)

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has fined Riverbend Landfill more than $104,000, the agency announced Thursday.  The fine stemmed from the landfill's failure to properly monitor and correct methane leaks as required by air quality regulations.

According to the EPA, Riverbend is required by the Clean Air Act to capture the emissions generated as garbage breaks down.  To ensure emissions are captured adequately, Riverbend is supposed to survey the surface of the landfill for leaks at least four times per year, using an instrument that measures methane present in the air.  If the landfill detects methane emissions above 500 parts per million, Riverbend must take corrective action to ensure those emissions are captured.  

In 2018, an inspection by EPA discovered nine separate instances of methane emissions greater than 500 ppm at different areas of the landfill. Riverbend's own records from 2015 to 2018, however, showed no areas with emissions above 500 ppm, including surface emission monitoring studies conducted both before and after EPA’s inspection. Based on these results, EPA determined that Riverbend failed to conduct adequate surface emission monitoring. 

EPA further determined that the landfill also failed to monitor cover integrity monthly, as required, and failed to perform required monthly monitoring in an onsite well.

The fine, part of EPA's stated efforts "to protect unfairly burdened communities and address the climate crisis," was levied as part of a settlement with the landfill.  According to the settlement, Riverbend neither confirmed nor denied EPA’s findings.

In addition to the fine, the settlement requires Riverbend to submit a new surface emission monitoring plan to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) by November 7 -- and to actually carry it out as required by law. Apparently because the dump has now proven itself to be untrustworthy, Riverbend must also use a GPS system to track and record the route its monitors take when measuring surface emissions.

The EPA's Compliance Order goes into great detail regarding means and methods the landfill's monitoring crew must employ, including the use of "brightly colored pin flags" at areas exceeding the 500 ppm cap and the specific time the monitors must take to examine the cover at any leak, to see what repairs it might need. Monitors' work must be verified by technical staff not involved in the actual monitoring, and an outside agency must be brought in to observe the monitors at work.

The detailed Compliance Order indicates the extent to which Riverbend violated the trust the law puts in a landfill operator to self-police. The law places primary responsibility for compliance in the hands of the operator, who is expected to report its own violations.  Riverbend promised to live up to those expectations when it applied for and received its air quality permit. Unfortunately, it comes as no surprise to the local community that Riverbend has not honored that promise.

What is perhaps more disheartening is that DEQ did not catch Riverbend's deceit itself. Instead, DEQ appears to have accepted Riverbend's reports at face value. The community has indeed been "unfairly burdened" by the shenanigans of the landfill and the indifference of the agency that is supposed to protect that community.