Last week’s rumor that Benton County would be hitting pause on that controversial landfill application is now confirmed. But, if you’re an opponent, don’t breakout the bubbly quite yet, Republic has six months to un-pause the process.
In a release, the County said, “The Conditional Use Permit (CUP) application submitted by Republic Services has been deemed incomplete by the Planning Division of Benton County Community Development. The County has notified Republic Services of the necessary additional information and will continue to engage in an active dialogue to address the deficiencies.”
The County also said, “Republic Services now has up to 180 days to provide the requested details to complete their application. The County anticipates that the revised submission will include more detailed technical reports and a broader spatial analysis to assess the existing conditions and potential impacts of landfill operations.”
Benton County has retained an outside consultant to analyze the application technically, and if Republic meets the County’s requirement, therefor completing their application, the next steps would be a review by the Disposal Site Advisory Committee, and then the Benton County Planning Commission.
Last week, we reported: Republic Services lit a dumpster fire at Tuesday’s Benton County Board of Commissioners meeting – where they submitted their 2023 Annual Hauling Report and the 2023 Annual Coffin Butte Pacific Region Compost Operational Report.
The basics: Republic’s Coffin Butte landfill is being investigated by the EPA for overly high methane emissions, which they left out of their report. Also, their spokesperson said it was left out of the report because they were unaware they were being investigated when they submitted the report.
However, EPA Administrator Michael Regan said they were being investigated as early as during a May 2 hearing in Washington DC. Also, a field representative directly told Republic on June 28 they were being looked at for an enforcement action.
Anyhoo… Corvallis being an engineering town, there was plenty of public comment that was worth a listen, most all of it critical of Republic, and their landfill operation. But props to the Republic spokesfolks for keeping a straight face while talking themselves up after the big reveal that all those methane worries just happened to not make into their report to the Board, which we should note, is our community’s publicly elected body.
Really, even if you don’t usually view Board of Commissioners meetings, which is perfectly understandable, you really-really should view this one – click here to do that, you’ll want to start at 16 minutes, 50 seconds. Even though it’s two hours, we suggest listening to the public comments and the report, so think popcorn.
The Disposal Site Advisory Committee hasn’t yet made any recommendations about accepting Republic’s report – so the Commissioners will wait on their guidance before deciding for themselves.
And we also Reported: U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and our U.S. Representative Val Hoyle urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, to thoroughly and expeditiously complete its investigation into concerns about Republic Services Coffin Butte Landfill.
In a joint letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, they wrote:
“We know the Environmental Protection Agency is in the process of an ongoing enforcement investigation of the Republic Services Coffin Butte Landfill in Benton County, Oregon, and we urge your thorough and expeditious completion of that process.”
“This 178-acre landfill accepts over 1 million tons of waste annually from nearly two dozen Oregon counties and southwest Washington. Surrounding communities have long been concerned about methane leakage that contributes to fire risk and climate change, strong odors, and ultimately jeopardizes worker safety and public health.”
“We are aware that EPA’s investigation in 2022 revealed dozens of methane leaks, a number of which reached highly flammable concentrations. We appreciate EPA Region 10’s reinspection in June 2024 and its continued attention to concerns raised by our constituents. As Republic Services and Benton County consider the potential for expansion of the landfill, it is more important than ever to have all the facts.”
And, also Reported what we called a Big Credible Rumor: The scuttlebutt is that Republic’s application for a landfill expansion may not be complete. An outside land use planning consultant, Winterbrook Planning, is reviewing the application.
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