Republic Services has twice asked the Benton County Planning Commission to approve an expansion of its local Coffin Butte landfill. Both times, the Commission unanimously voted no. Now Republic is appealing, undoubtedly hoping that no doesn’t mean no.
The appeal was filed on Tuesday, August 12.
“Along with the appeal, the applicant requested a 60-day extension of the process, which was granted by the County. This gives all parties more time to fully consider evidence both before and after the public hearing. Prior to the extension, September 27 was the deadline to complete the quasi-judicial land use application process. The new deadline is November 26,” says a Benton County release.
The appeal will be heard by Benton County’s Board of Commissioners. The County says they will soon find and announce a late October date and time for the hearing.
They also quite specifically pointed out that Ex parte communication rules regarding direct communication with the Benton County Commissioners on the landfill matter remain in effect.
Written testimony can be submitted to landfillappeals@bentoncountyor.gov. For more information about the appeal hearing and instructions for giving written or verbal testimony, visit bentoncountyor.gov/coffin-butte-landfill or sign up as an interested party on the County’s website.
Between the lines: Here’s our analysis. The Planning Commission adopted their latest decision on Tuesday, July 29, 2025, opening a 14-day window in which any party could file an appeal to be heard before the Benton County Board of Commissioners. That is what’s happened.
Republic had the same response when the Commission rejected their application back in 2022. But back then, Republic withdrew that appeal. They opted instead to revise their application, seeking about half the expansion as the original, to the one that’s now also been rejected.
Anyhow, voters want no part of any landfill expansion at all.
Over 5,000 pages of written testimony had been submitted concerning the proposed expansion, almost all of it in opposition. Given Corvallis is a science and engineering town, much of the citizen testimony was highly technical – more so than what may have otherwise been expected. Signups for oral testimony were numerous, and the County had to add hearings to accommodate it all.
If expansion were to be decided directly by Benton County voters, we’re guessing the yes votes would amount to less than twenty percent, if that. However, this appeal will be heard by the Benton County Board of Commissioners. They are the three-member board that runs the County, and each of them has to face the voters every four years.
If someone, including Republic, doesn’t like what the commissioners decide, the next step would be Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals, or LUBA. The courts would be next after that.
What nobody seems to be examining are administrative or legal options to stop operations at the dump right now, or maybe even close the dump permanently.
This lack of examination has struck us as odd. In the course of the last few years of hearings, there has been considerable testimony that Republic is violating environmental and safety regulations. There was also considerable testimony that led us to wonder if their impacts on neighboring farms and others violate the terms of their current conditional use permits.
It’s impossible to say what such an examination would yield, but it seems apparent that there would be obvious lines for inquiry, and those lines are numerous.
By Mike Suarez
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