We are all especially busy these days, but here's something any of us can do just sitting at our computer:
Send an email to the Yamhill County Planning Department saying you oppose expansion of Riverbend Landfill.
Many of you did this just one year ago. And your comments made a difference. In 2013, the Planning Commission voted not to approve Waste Management's rezoning application. But that was then, and this is now. After that rezoning ultimately passed the Board of Commissioners, Waste Management submitted the expansion plan under review today.
You can make a difference again with the Planning Commission. Let them know that you oppose expanding a giant mountain of trash onto high value farmland, next to a river, in a seismic hazard zone, on the gateway highway into Yamhill County and McMinnville. Tell them what it is about the dump that affects you most.
The way Waste Management has planned this expansion, the mountain of rotting garbage will move closer to McMinnville -- less than two miles away. Even Waste Management has said that a landfill should not be that close to a town! Moreover, this part of the expansion would be so close to Waste Management's property line that no screening may be possible. Imagine what that will look like every day.
The expansion will also bring the landfill a lot closer to Highway 18, where the garbage will cover high-value farmland and wetland and riparian areas. This new "wing" of the landfill will start just 35' from the highway's edge and rise in a steep 140-foot wall topped with a road part way up. This "wall" will run right down Highway 18 for half a mile!
Riverbend is already the biggest eyesore on the drive between Yamhill County and the coast. Even without this expansion, the dump will welcome visitors to the County for decades to come. The expansion will keep the landfill active at least 15 additional years with equipment, noise, odor, litter, dust, and traffic greeting travelers in our County. It will be the smell in the air that will bid people farewell as they leave our County. This is not how we want visitors to remember our beautiful valley.
We don't need this legacy. Oregon has hundreds of years of landfill capacity already. We don't need to expand any landfill in Oregon, let alone this one.
You can read about the expansion here.
The deadline for comments to the Planning Dept. is 5:00 PM on December 23rd. You can mail a comment to Planning Director Mike Brandt at 525 NE 4th Street, McMinnville, Oregon 97128, or email him: brandtm@co.yamhill.or.us. The Department has promised to post electronic comments online. To see other comments already submitted, go to the address above.
Many of you have sent in your comments already. Thank you! And thank you for all your help over the years.
Best wishes for the Holiday season and the coming New Year.
- the Stop the Dump Coalition
Friday, December 19, 2014
Friday, December 5, 2014
Planning Commission Hears Plenty of Complaints
The Yamhill County Planning Commission heard plenty of complaints from residents and business owners about the blight that is Riverbend Landfill at its hearing last night. The PC is considering the landfill's request to approve expansion of the dump onto adjacent farmland to the north and west.
The adequacy of the application and legal questions dominated the hearing. Although impacts of any expansion on farms in the immediate vicinity of the landfill are a key issue in the hearing, area farmers pointed out that the landfill's consultant interviewed only one farmer and misidentifed crops and other farm uses across the region.
Several local farmers pointed to specific changes they've had to make in their farming practices because the landfill attracts birds and vermin, which then move out into neighboring farm fields. In addition to eating or spoiling crops, birds and other vectors carry bacteria that can make food crops harmful to people.
Jennifer Redmond Noble pointed out that the farm-consumer relationship is growing more and more personal, with consumers eager to meet their farmer and visit their farm -- but not in the shadow of a smelly dump. Ramsey McPhillips pointed out how difficult and time-consuming it is to pick litter out of hay. Plastic bags are baled with the hay (not a welcome sight to a rancher feeding cows) or they clog the baler. The presence of the landfill puts this part of Yamhill County at a definite economic disadvantage.
A host of other issues were raised -- ownership of the various lots, susceptibility of the existing and expanded dump to rupturing in an earthquake, the recent zinc and leachate leaks, Riverbend's utter indifference to sorting waste to keep hazardous or recyclable material (or even "maggot-oozing dead goats") out of the dump.
You can still submit your comments on the expansion proposal! The Planning Department has set the schedule as follows:
5:00 PM Tuesday December 23 -- all parties may submit any additional comments up to this time, including new material
5:00 PM Wednesday December 31 -- all parties may submit rebuttals to any material previously submitted (but may not raise new issues or introduce new facts)
5:00 PM Thursday January 8 -- the applicant may submit a final written argument but no new evidence
7:00 PM Thursday January 15 -- the Planning Commission will take up the hearing again beginning with the Staff Recommendation. No more testimony will be taken. This meeting is expected to be at McMinnville Civic Hall.
For more information, visit http://www.co.yamhill.or.us/content/riverbend-landfill.
The adequacy of the application and legal questions dominated the hearing. Although impacts of any expansion on farms in the immediate vicinity of the landfill are a key issue in the hearing, area farmers pointed out that the landfill's consultant interviewed only one farmer and misidentifed crops and other farm uses across the region.
Several local farmers pointed to specific changes they've had to make in their farming practices because the landfill attracts birds and vermin, which then move out into neighboring farm fields. In addition to eating or spoiling crops, birds and other vectors carry bacteria that can make food crops harmful to people.
Jennifer Redmond Noble pointed out that the farm-consumer relationship is growing more and more personal, with consumers eager to meet their farmer and visit their farm -- but not in the shadow of a smelly dump. Ramsey McPhillips pointed out how difficult and time-consuming it is to pick litter out of hay. Plastic bags are baled with the hay (not a welcome sight to a rancher feeding cows) or they clog the baler. The presence of the landfill puts this part of Yamhill County at a definite economic disadvantage.
A host of other issues were raised -- ownership of the various lots, susceptibility of the existing and expanded dump to rupturing in an earthquake, the recent zinc and leachate leaks, Riverbend's utter indifference to sorting waste to keep hazardous or recyclable material (or even "maggot-oozing dead goats") out of the dump.
You can still submit your comments on the expansion proposal! The Planning Department has set the schedule as follows:
5:00 PM Tuesday December 23 -- all parties may submit any additional comments up to this time, including new material
5:00 PM Wednesday December 31 -- all parties may submit rebuttals to any material previously submitted (but may not raise new issues or introduce new facts)
5:00 PM Thursday January 8 -- the applicant may submit a final written argument but no new evidence
7:00 PM Thursday January 15 -- the Planning Commission will take up the hearing again beginning with the Staff Recommendation. No more testimony will be taken. This meeting is expected to be at McMinnville Civic Hall.
For more information, visit http://www.co.yamhill.or.us/content/riverbend-landfill.
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Hearing on Dump Next Thursday!
The Yamhill County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the latest expansion proposal from Waste Management next Thursday, December 4, at 7:00 PM in McMinnville Civic Hall.
Waste Management proposes to enlarge Riverbend Landfill over the next 20+ years by as much as 37 acres -- 8 to the north of the existing dump and 29 acres to the west. The western portion will run for almost half a mile within 35' of the edge of Highway 18. The smell of rotting garbage already reaches the city. Now the northern acres will bring the landfill that much closer to residential and business neighborhoods on the south side of McMinnville.
The new dump will rise 140' above Highway 18. Trucks will access the dump via a road system that is 90' in the air when it parallels Hwy 18. Imagine those headlights coming at you at night in the winter! The dump's "working face," with its equipment, noise, smell, and dust, will overlook the Highway for most of the 20-30 years of the landfill's projected active life.
You can make a difference. If you don't want this expansion -- which would never have been "necessary" if the landfill had taken only Yamhill County's waste all these years -- contact the Planning Commission and say so. Tell them expansion is not in the best interests of McMinnville or the County and tell them why. Trucks--noise--lights--birds (and their droppings on food we buy at nearby produce stands)--the dirty highway--runoff into our river (see article about the recent zinc release, below)--the reputation Yamhill County is getting as Portland's garbage dump.
Read Waste Management's application here. Click on "Riverbend Expansion Applications" to download the pdf.
Read the County Planning Department's staff report -- and letters from your neighbors and friends already submitted to the Planning Commission -- here.
Come to the Planning Commission hearing:
Thursday, December 4, 2014, 7:00 PM
McMinnville Civic Hall, 2nd & Baker (parking on 1st Street)
This may be our last chance to Stop the Dump!
Waste Management proposes to enlarge Riverbend Landfill over the next 20+ years by as much as 37 acres -- 8 to the north of the existing dump and 29 acres to the west. The western portion will run for almost half a mile within 35' of the edge of Highway 18. The smell of rotting garbage already reaches the city. Now the northern acres will bring the landfill that much closer to residential and business neighborhoods on the south side of McMinnville.
The new dump will rise 140' above Highway 18. Trucks will access the dump via a road system that is 90' in the air when it parallels Hwy 18. Imagine those headlights coming at you at night in the winter! The dump's "working face," with its equipment, noise, smell, and dust, will overlook the Highway for most of the 20-30 years of the landfill's projected active life.
You can make a difference. If you don't want this expansion -- which would never have been "necessary" if the landfill had taken only Yamhill County's waste all these years -- contact the Planning Commission and say so. Tell them expansion is not in the best interests of McMinnville or the County and tell them why. Trucks--noise--lights--birds (and their droppings on food we buy at nearby produce stands)--the dirty highway--runoff into our river (see article about the recent zinc release, below)--the reputation Yamhill County is getting as Portland's garbage dump.
Read Waste Management's application here. Click on "Riverbend Expansion Applications" to download the pdf.
Read the County Planning Department's staff report -- and letters from your neighbors and friends already submitted to the Planning Commission -- here.
Come to the Planning Commission hearing:
Thursday, December 4, 2014, 7:00 PM
McMinnville Civic Hall, 2nd & Baker (parking on 1st Street)
This may be our last chance to Stop the Dump!
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Zinc Leak at Landfill
Unbeknownst to us, last May more zinc leached out of Riverbend Landfill than is allowed under its permit or federal law. DEQ forbids the landfill to discharge more than 0.20 mg/L (milligrams per liter) of zinc during any one storm event. On May 9, 2014, the landfill measured a discharge of 0.42 mg/L, which exceeded the limit by more than 50%, a "Class I violation."
"Class I violations" are the most serious, and DEQ has issued a pre-enforcement notice to Riverbend. The notice can result in assessment of civil penalties for each day the Landfill was in violation.
Zinc is an especially toxic substance. As noted by DEQ in its notice, "Exceeding total zinc permit limits can negatively impact stream habitat and aquatic species."
The website stormwaterx.com describes the effects of zinc this way:
"Class I violations" are the most serious, and DEQ has issued a pre-enforcement notice to Riverbend. The notice can result in assessment of civil penalties for each day the Landfill was in violation.
Zinc is an especially toxic substance. As noted by DEQ in its notice, "Exceeding total zinc permit limits can negatively impact stream habitat and aquatic species."
The website stormwaterx.com describes the effects of zinc this way:
Adverse human impacts:
Zinc is an important dietary element, but concentrations above 5 mg/L can impart an unpleasant taste to water.[i] Exposure to large amounts of zinc can cause stomach cramps and anemia, and also decrease good cholesterol.[ii]
Adverse impacts on the environment:
In
marine waters, aquatic species suffer acute effects from zinc at 90
μg/L [note: 0.42 mg/L equals 420 ug/L]. Adverse effects of dissolved zinc, including altered behavior,
blood and serum chemistry, impaired reproduction, and reduced growth,
occur to salmon at very low levels (5.6 μg/L in freshwater).[iii] In mammals, ingesting large amounts of zinc can cause infertility and underweight offspring.[iv]
Zinc is often found in the water supply as a dissolve constituent since zinc compounds are highly soluble in water.[xiv]
One example is rainwater picking up zinc when coming into contact with
galvanized surfaces. Galvanized roofs are a common source of zinc in
stormwater. Zinc is also released to the environment through tire wear.
Tire tread material contains approximately 1% zinc by weight.[xv]
This is yet one more example of why a landfill should not be sited -- and definitely not expanded -- near our waterways.
To register your disappointment with Waste Management's management of Riverbend Landfill, contact Bob Schwarz at DEQ (SCHWARZ.Bob@deq.state.or.us) and Mike Brandt, Yamhill County Planning Director, at brandtm@co.yamhill.or.us.
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Air Quality Meeting Tuesday!
by Ilsa Perse, Stop the Dump Coalition
This Tuesday will be the last open-to-the-public meeting before Waste Management presents its expansion plans for Riverbend Landfill to the Planning Commission on December 4th. A big turn-out this Tuesday will help make the case that the dump and its odors are NOT compatible with living and farming in our beautiful valley.
The Stop the Dump Coalition will be bringing many issues to DEQ's attention. Please come share your ideas with Gary Andes, DEQ Air Quality monitor for the dump.
WHAT: The semi-annual DEQ/Riverbend Odor Meeting
WHERE: McMinnville Senior Center, McDaniel Lane, Mac
WHEN: Tuesday, November 18; 6:00 PM Pizza and kibitzing; 7: 00 PM Meeting
WHY: Because the dump still stinks and DEQ has made it very hard to report the problem. Gary Andes from DEQ needs to hear from folks like you about your experiences dealing with landfill odors and with DEQ's odor-reporting system, or lack thereof. (We'll have report forms at the meeting.)
DEQ has not posted an air monitoring report on its Riverbend website (http://www.deq.state.or.us/nwr/RiverbendLandfill.htm) since 2012. Highway 18 outside the landfill is filthy. The odor reporting system is designed to keep DEQ from ever having to investigate complaints.
Bring your own air quality issues to the meeting!
SEE YOU TUESDAY!
This Tuesday will be the last open-to-the-public meeting before Waste Management presents its expansion plans for Riverbend Landfill to the Planning Commission on December 4th. A big turn-out this Tuesday will help make the case that the dump and its odors are NOT compatible with living and farming in our beautiful valley.
The Stop the Dump Coalition will be bringing many issues to DEQ's attention. Please come share your ideas with Gary Andes, DEQ Air Quality monitor for the dump.
WHAT: The semi-annual DEQ/Riverbend Odor Meeting
WHERE: McMinnville Senior Center, McDaniel Lane, Mac
WHEN: Tuesday, November 18; 6:00 PM Pizza and kibitzing; 7: 00 PM Meeting
WHY: Because the dump still stinks and DEQ has made it very hard to report the problem. Gary Andes from DEQ needs to hear from folks like you about your experiences dealing with landfill odors and with DEQ's odor-reporting system, or lack thereof. (We'll have report forms at the meeting.)
DEQ has not posted an air monitoring report on its Riverbend website (http://www.deq.state.or.us/nwr/RiverbendLandfill.htm) since 2012. Highway 18 outside the landfill is filthy. The odor reporting system is designed to keep DEQ from ever having to investigate complaints.
Bring your own air quality issues to the meeting!
SEE YOU TUESDAY!
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