The Third Way

County and Waste Management Have Options Other than Appealing or Allowing Landfills on Farmland

Since July 6, when the Land Use Board of Appeals ruled that Yamhill County followed the wrong procedure in approving expansion of Riverbend Landfill, both the County and the landfill have considered whether to appeal or to follow the correct procedure (a process that requires amending the Zoning Ordinance to allow landfills on farmland).

Neither party seems to have considered an obvious third choice: establish a new timetable for closing the existing landfill.

The County's July 21 decision to put off amending the Zoning Ordinance creates an opportunity for both County and Riverbend to explore this option.

According to DEQ, the landfill currently accepts about 540,000 tons of waste annually, nearly two-thirds of it imported from outside Yamhill County. At this rate, DEQ estimates the landfill will close by July 2014.

Yamhill County and Waste Management, which owns Riverbend Landfill, both have a say in when the landfill closes.

Waste Management could direct some of the waste now going to Riverbend to other facilities, including its dry-country facility at Arlington. The County could take advantage of a law Metro adopted that allows the County to ask Metro to send less waste to Riverbend. Since Metro accounts for 50% of the garbage deposited at Riverbend, taking this step alone would allow Riverbend Landfill to remain open well past 2014, without expanding.

Keeping the existing landfill open longer will allow Waste Management to implement a sustainable alternative technology for processing solid waste in Yamhill County. WMI and other waste handlers are already exploring modern technologies and using them elsewhere. Composting organic waste, requiring recovery of recyclable materials, and converting waste (not landfill gas) to fuel can reduce the volume of unusable waste so expansion should never be necessary.

More than 500 people own property within three miles of Riverbend Landfill -- an area of 18,000 acres, 4% of all the land in the County, including high-value farmland farmed by some of the County's largest agricultural enterprises. The Riverbend neighborhood and the South Yamhill River have borne the environmental, financial, and aesthetic burdens of a landfill for nearly thirty years. It is time for the County and Waste Management to explore a new way to handle solid waste. Extending the landfill's life without expanding is an excellent first step.

The Solid Waste Advisory Commission (SWAC) is currently reviewing the County's Solid Waste Management Plan. Waste Not calls on the County to ask Waste Management to meet with SWAC to reshape the future of solid waste in Yamhill County. SWAC and Waste Management should engage in an open and frank discussion of alternative processes that will not destroy farmland, risk our air and water, diminish our County's beauty and tourist allure, or exploit local resources for the benefit of out-of-area garbage generators and business owners.

Waste Not of Yamhill County, the Yamhill County Soil and Water Conservation District, Yamhill County Farm Bureau, Willamette Valley Wineries Association, Willamette Riverkeeper, and fourteen other individuals and businesses filed the appeal that led to LUBA's decision. This coalition remains opposed to expanding Riverbend Landfill. Expansion is not necessary to serve the County's residents and businesses today. With waste reduction and implementation of environmentally sound waste processing alternatives, expansion will never be necessary.