It’s official, an appeal of the Coffin Butte Landfill decision was filed last Friday, December 5. And now, the grassroots group filing that appeal has announced an important alliance with a statewide environmental advocacy organization, Beyond Toxics. This has meaning we’ll get to in a minute.
First, a quick catch-up; the Benton County Board of Commissioners okayed the expansion of the landfill last month. The dump’s owner is trash hauler Republic Services. Commissioners Nancy Wyse and Pat Malone voted to approve, Gabe Shepherd voted against.
Environmentally oriented locals and expert advocates have long claimed the dump is hazardous to human health and the environment. They’ve said the facility is not well-run by Republic, or properly monitored by local, state and federal authorities.
Concerns have ranged from forever chemicals leaching into surrounding soil and groundwater to methane and chemical emissions being released into the air.
Indeed, just two days after the County approved the landfill expansion, the state disclosed it would be taking some kind of enforcement action against Republic for air quality issues dating from 2022 to present. The timing of the disclosure has been seen as questionable.
Other concerns have centered on trash that reportedly blows into adjacent properties and harms livestock and fire risks that neither the County nor the neighboring small town of Adair Village are prepared for.
The Appeal and Alliance with Beyond Toxics
For all these reasons, say the Valley Neighbors for Environmental Quality and Safety, or VNEQS, they filed an appeal with the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals, or LUBA, seeking to overturn the County’s approval of the landfill’s expansion. But like we said, they’re only a small grassroots group – self-admittedly, very informal.
This arrangement has worked fine these last few years. They started as an informal opposition group and became the area’s go-to clearinghouse of information for opponents of the landfill’s expansion.
Now, however, they are the moving party in a legal battle that will be arduously long and expensive. VNEQS cannot fight the landfill without lawyers. So, they’ve started raising money to pay for all the group’s anticipated legal expenses. They need around $50,000 for their appeal to LUBA, they’ve raised about $27,000 according to their GoFundMe page.
But none of those contributions have been tax deductible. Which is where the alliance with Beyond Toxics comes into play. They are a statewide environmental advocacy nonprofit that can intake TAX DEDUCTIBLE donations for VNEQS, and they’ve agreed to do that without taking any portion of the proceeds. So, whatever is donated to VNEQS through Beyond Toxics, goes to VNEQS.
There are a few particulars, all spelled out simply on the VNEQS donations page, which you can find right here, by just clicking right here.
By Mike Suarez with contributions from Steven J. Schultz
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