Landfill study gives a mixed outlook

Land use — Closure could bring $2-$4 increase for homeowners; green alternatives remain uncertain
By: David Sale

McMINNVILLE — Engineering firm Zia Consulting has released a long-awaited study on the proposed expansion of Riverbend Landfill, but the report — presented to county commissioners Friday — does not identify a clear option for waste disposal.

“The intent wasn’t to make a recommendation — just to give the commissioners a summary of alternatives,” said Sherrie Mathison, solid waste commissioner for the county.

Commissioners Leslie Lewis and Kathy George (Mary Stern, whose husband works for Western Oregon Waste, has recused herself) will consider the study’s findings and resume the long-tabled land use application process for the expansion at their Oct. 12 meeting.

The report also provides cost estimates for shipping waste out-of-county, one of the primary bones of contention between Riverbend’s parent company, Waste Management Inc., and local activists.

During last year’s election, McMinnville resident Ramsey McPhillips (whose farm borders Riverbend) sponsored an initiative to block future expansions of the landfill. It was defeated in part by a WM-sponsored ad campaign, alleging that disposal rates could more than double if the expansion were blocked. McPhillips and other opponents estimated an increase of no more than 12 to 14 percent for residential customers, bringing rates in line with metro Portland.
In their analysis, Zia compared costs of shipping to four regional landfills: Coffin Butte in Corvallis; Wasco County Landfill in The Dalles; Columbia Ridge Landfill in Arlington; and Roosevelt Regional Landfill in Klickitat County, Wash.

In the event that out-of-county waste disposal was pursued, the study estimates that Newberg Garbage and Recycling residential customers would see an increase of between $2.51 (to Coffin Butte) and $4.70 (Roosevelt, Wash.) per month, based on a 96-gallon container; commercial clients would see a monthly rate increase of between $15.70 and $29.38, based on a three-cubic-yard Dumpster.

The study also considered a range of alternative disposal technologies, many advocated by McPhillips and other members of the interest group Waste Not of Yamhill County.
Of the various “green” approaches presently on the market, waste-to-energy incineration was identified as the alternative operating at a fully commercial level and capable of handling the 600,000 to 700,000 tons of trash per year that enter Riverbend, without the need for extensive presorting or storage.

However, the study noted: “Even if a WTE facility were chosen as an option — setting aside the critical questions of who would pay for it and how, where it would be located in the county, who would own it, who would operate, and so on — it would take several years before such a facility came to fruition, necessitating continued use of Riverbend or some other disposal capacity.”

Instead, the study’s authors suggest a “balanced compromise,” in which the county could use its regulatory authority to leverage Riverbend’s status as a de facto regional landfill, in order to reach an agreement with Waste Management on phasing in some form of green technology — and on spreading costs among neighboring counties, whose waste shipments to Riverbend account for some 40 percent of total deposits.
One possibility cited in the study is plasma arc gasification, an efficient form of waste-to-energy incineration being developed by InEnTech, a WM subsidiary in Bend, whose corporate officers have expressed interest in developing a facility in Yamhill County.
“The paradox is that the landfill operation, if placed within a more comprehensive policy initiative stressing materials/energy recovery, will finance its own replacement,” the study concluded.

Such a finding was cause for both sides in the dispute to declare victory in statements released last week.

“The report clarifies that expanding Riverbend will provide significant environmental and economic benefits as well as opportunities to explore innovative technologies for the future,” WM spokeswoman Jackie Lang said.

“It’s a nail in the coffin of the case for expansion,” McPhillips declared. “Now that it’s been shown that there are viable alternatives, whether out-of-county shipping or alternative technology, the commissioners have to re-examine whether the expansion still qualifies for an exemption under the statewide land use planning goals.

“My belief is that the commissioners should, and will, deny the application,” he added. “It’s going to become the subject of a legal dispute either way — but a denial will allow the county to start making progress on a second track of developing alternatives to continued expansion.”
The 109-acre expansion was first proposed in fall 2008 by WM officials, based on projections that Riverbend would reach maximum capacity by 2014. Opposed by neighboring property owners, the land use application was recommended for denial by the county planning commission and tabled for further study after a marathon 15-hour commissioner’s meeting in March.