Why You Should Worry About the Big One

By Leonard Rydell

Riverbend Landfill is out of control, and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is determined to ensure that, at any cost, the dump continues to grow.  This is not right.  Let me explain.

I am a consulting Civil Engineer, Professional Land Surveyor, and Water Rights Examiner licensed in the State of Oregon, and this year am celebrating my 40th year of professional practice.  I have been following Riverbend Landfill since 1982 when I laid out the original survey coordinate system for Riverbend, revised the original construction plans, and -- for a brief while -- was the Engineer of Record until my concerns over Riverbend Landfill's failure to meet the landfill's design and specifications led me to resign.

It was obvious to me even then that Riverbend Landfill was going to become a major environmental hazard and that the DEQ would be no help.  I laid out Cells 1, 2 and 3.  When I measured ground water levels, I learned that ground water would move in and out of  garbage placed in those cells.  Despite rules that required 95% compaction, DEQ allowed garbage to be placed below ground water levels in those cells when DEQ's own tests showed compaction of cell bottoms to be no more than 60% during the first four years.  

The original design was for the landfill to rise to a height of 157 feet above sea level, ie, 7 feet above the surrounding farm fields and Highway 18.  After the original Yamhill County and DEQ approvals, I was asked to revise the plans to steepen the slopes so that the dump could rise 28 feet above the top of the farm fields on the uplands.

In the 1980's, earthquakes were not even discussed as part of an engineering design.  None of the original 8 cells of Riverbend Landfill have ever been studied to determine whether they will withstand a major earthquake (7.5 or larger), yet the DEQ continues to allow garbage to be added to the landfill, now piled up to 135 feet above surrounding farm fields (yes, that is a 108 foot increase from 1982).

Cells 4 and 5 have been studied to a 7.25 magnitude earthquake.  A 9.0 magnitude earthquake like the Big One we are expecting is 56.234 times stronger than a 7.25 earthquake but releases 421.696 times the energy.  It is not the same as paying $9.00 for lunch instead of $7.25.

But wait, there is more!  The July 1993 study for Cells 4 and 5 for a 7.25 earthquake was based on landfill slopes of 4 feet horizontal to one foot vertical, yet the DEQ is allowing a steeper 3.5 feet horizontal to one foot vertical slope and a maximum height 46 feet higher than that approved by the 1993 study.  Recently I asked the DEQ permit engineer when the increase in height was approved and what the design calculations were.  His reply was that a 3.5 foot horizontal to one foot vertical slope is "allowed by administrative rule."   To me, that is like adding four floors to a skyscraper without requiring engineering calculations because the additional height is allowed under the zoning code.

My concern about the earthquake stability of the landfill should also be your concern.  The 20 July 2015 New Yorker Magazine contains an excellent article about the Cascadia Subduction Zone Earthquake, the Northwest's "Big One."  See http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one.  As Kenneth Murphy, FEMA’s Region X (Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska) Director says, "Our operating assumption is that everything west of Interstate 5 will be toast."

DOGAMI's Yumi Wang points out that we must also worry about soil liquefaction.  In her Hospital Report for Yamhill and Lincoln Counties, she says, "In addition to damage to bridges from earthquake shaking, damage would occur from tsunami flooding to road segments in low lying portions of Highway 101 especially near the Siletz River, from landslides especially toward the western portion of Highway 18 (ODOT mileposts 13 to 18); and from liquefaction especially between Sheridan and McMinnville."  In case you don't know, Riverbend Landfill is located on the river side of Highway 18 between Sheridan and McMinnville.

Look for my next article on water and the dump.

Moody Little Sister to Play Stop the Dump Fundraiser

What a deal!!

You can listen to great music and help close the dump at the same time!

Friends of Yamhill County member Joey Mahan has generously arranged for Moody Little Sister to appear in concert at 3rd Street Pizza on Friday, August 21.

Stopping the biggest garbage company in the world is not cheap, but these tickets are. Tickets are just $10 (minimum donation; more accepted with gratitude if you are so inspired) with proceeds to benefit the Stop the Dump Coalition.

STDC is appealing the County's decision to green-light dump expansion.  The Coalition is also providing expertise to the state Department of Environmental Quality in an effort to assist their review of Waste Management's expansion plans.  Every dime helps with our considerable expenses for attorneys, hydrologists, engineers, and other experts.


Speakers will update us on dump closure status at 6 PM, and the concert begins around 6:30.  As always, pizza and beverages are available for purchase.

Sample the band's music at https://www.reverbnation.com/tunepak/artist_584140?eid=A584140_26037298_55432054_lnk1005&utm_content=1005&utm_medium=email&utm_source=fr_layout_13

To get tickets, e-mail Ilsa Perse at ilsap@earthlink.net.  Tell her how many tickets you'll need and then show up at the show!  But hurry -- seats are definitely limited and selling fast.

Safety Still a Big Concern at Landfill

by Leonard Rydell

As readers of this blog know, I have long been concerned about the stability of the existing landfill.  In the weeks before the County voted to approve the proposed landfill expansion, I submitted my concerns to the County once again.  County Counsel responded by entering my engineering stability concerns into the planning record for the land use hearing on the expansion.

The actual vote came after a delay to address ethics concerns regarding inappropriate ex-parte contact.  As the author of the seismic safety memo, I was singled out as one of those who had engaged in such contact.  When the vote was finally taken, each commissioner addressed the landfill.  One of the carefully crafted comments made was that the Commissioners could not consider my “seismic safety issues because they are not zoning issues!”

What a great way for the Commissioners to avoid addressing environmental and zoning problems!  Refuse to respond to safety complaints because a land use hearing is underway, and then refuse to consider those complaints because they do not address land use.  After being involved in land use planning for 42 years, I knew that this would happen, and indeed the County has followed this pattern for years.

If you remember, I asked for an apology for being publicly named as making “ex-parte contact” over the seismic issues.  I have not received one.

To date, Yamhill County has not addressed my seismic concerns nor the fact that Riverbend Landfill generates over 19 million gallons of leachate a year (2013) [about 9 tanker truck loads a day], yet it is still being touted as a “modern lined landfill”.

When the next big earthquake occurs, this leachate, plus several more million gallons of rain water infiltrating the pile of garbage due to damaged top liners, will need to be pumped and hauled somewhere out of Yamhill County for treatment across bridges that likely won't be standing.  If leachate can't get hauled off for treatment, it has two places to go:  1) the South Yamhill River to the Willamette to the Columbia to the ocean, or 2) into ground water.

Of course, the DEQ is not addressing this problem, and the landfill is already approved by the County.  There is no plan.

After the next earthquake, the landfill itself will probably not be standing.  Cells 1, 2, and 3 of the original landfill do not have bottom liners (liners are part of the structural design of the landfill), nor am I aware that the perimeter berm around Cells 1, 2, and 3 has ever been studied for earthquake stability.  None of that stopped Yamhill County from approving stacking tons more garbage on top of those cells.

Cells 4 and 5 have been lined and are designed for a 7.25 magnitude earthquake.  The design is based on side slopes of 4 horizontal to 1 vertical and a height of 95 feet above the perimeter berm elevation of 145 feet.  However, the current landfill slope is steeper (3.5 horizontal to 1 vertical) as well as 46 feet higher than the original design.  I have never seen documents verifying that the new design will withstand an earthquake of any magnitude, let alone the 9.0 quake we are expecting in Western Oregon.

I asked the DEQ permit engineer if I could see the documents that formed the basis of approval of these slope and height increases.  His response was that a 3.5 to 1 slope was allowed by Oregon Administrative Rules.  This is akin to approving a five-story addition to a 20-year-old skyscraper because 25 stories are allowed by the current zoning height limit.

I was told that if I wanted more information, I had to submit a public records request form and then go to DEQ's Portland office to look up the records myself”.  This stunned me.  Shouldn't the DEQ know the basis of its decision before increasing the height?  Apparently, they don't.

Fortunately, the County's approval has been appealed by the Stop the Dump Coalition and others.  Meanwhile, however, DEQ has begun to review Waste Management's application for environmental approval of the expansion.  To let DEQ know that seismic and water safety are important to citizens of Yamhill County, contact Greg Svelund at DEQ at svelund.greg@deq.state.or.us.  Greg is the official Riverbend point person.  Don't expect a response, however.

- by Susan Watkins

Here Come The Judge!

The Stop the Dump Coalition today filed a Notice of Intent to Appeal Yamhill County's approval of Riverbend Landfill's expansion.  The NITA (as the Notice is called) was filed with LUBA, the state Land Use Board of Appeals.

By law a copy of the NITA must be mailed to everyone who testified or submitted written testimony in the hearings the County held on the landfill's application.  The County must now prepare a "record" of those proceedings, which attorneys and LUBA judges can refer to in arguing the case.  Once the record is complete, Stop the Dump will have 21 days to file its opening brief.

Stop the Dump was joined in the NITA by the Willamette Valley Wineries Association and McPhillips Farms, Inc.


Even before the NITA was filed, however, Waste Management presented its expansion application to the state Department of Environmental Quality, DEQ.  At 824 pages, the application will make good bedtime reading for a good many bedtimes.

Fortunately, DEQ estimates that it will take several months to complete its own review of the application.  In the meantime, Stop the Dump and its allies will be busy parsing the massive document and securing experts to review it, as well.  The work ahead will be time-intensive and expensive.

You can contribute to this effort.  If you have environmental expertise and are willing to review and comment on the application, contact Susan Watkins here to receive a copy of the application (on CD-rom).

If you have an interest in Stopping this Expansion, please contribute!  Many of you have already donated in response to the fund-raising letter Stop the Dump recently sent out.  THANK YOU so much.  We have been amazed at your generosity.

If you did not get a fund raising letter, but would like to donate (gentle hint) , please take advantage of the easy-to-use donate button at the top of this page!

To all of you, thank you so much for the continued support.  We couldn't do any of this without you.

DEQ Names Contact for Riverbend Questions

Tired of fielding questions about Riverbend Landfill from people concerned about their health, their environment, and the health of their community, the state Department of Environmental Quality has decided to funnel all inquiries about the landfill to -- Bend.

The individual who will now serve as DEQ's "point man" for Yamhill County's huge regional dump is Greg Svelund, whose office is in the Central Oregon community.  Svelund can be reached by email at svelund.greg@deq.state.or.us or by phone at 541-633-2008.

Lissa Druback, DEQ Solid Waste Manager and supervisor of Bob Schwarz, the permit writer for Riverbend, explained Svelund's appointment in an email to a Stop the Dump board member:

"Because we expect to receive many inquiries about this permit modification that cover multiple programs at DEQ, we have identified a single point of contact for questions about Riverbend from here on out.  That person is Greg Svelund in our Bend office....  We will answer the questions received as our workload allows.  If you have any additional questions about the public comment process, please contact Greg."

The permit modification Druback refers to is the 29-acre expansion recently approved by Yamhill County.  Although Waste Management has already submitted an application to DEQ for its approval, Yamhill County citizens have not had access to that application because DEQ is moving some offices, putting all public records requests on hold for several weeks.  Stop the Dump is working with DEQ to release the application anyway and hopes to have the documents available for review soon.