Pull the reins on dump
As long as there is land to expand upon, Riverbend Landfill will resist green alternatives. Burying garbage is quick, convenient and profitable. If it was financially green, Riverbend would have changed long ago. They know the bottom line.
The time has come to pull in the reins on this runaway dump. Our county needs to gain some control. We do not have to approve their application for expansion, nor do we have to renew the disposal permit that expires in 2014.
Riverbend is on a blitz to enhance its green image. A lot of smoke will be blown in our faces so we cannot see their path of destruction. To win us over, many airs of good intentions will be displayed. And they would like us to be in fear and dread of higher garbage rates. Sounds like a bully on the block.
If Riverbend’s feigned goodwill fails, their parent company, Waste Management Inc. of Texas, will fly in their best lawyers with a bottomless war chest and confront us in the courts. It’s then that Waste Management Inc. will expect us to cower and roll over and play dead. Waste Management Inc. will become as stinking ugly as their dump.
Yamhill County government’s first priority is the wellbeing of its citizens and environment. We need to challenge Waste Management Inc. and deny expansion. Walking arm-in-arm with Riverbend Landfill is not in our best interest.
Marci Christian
McMinnville
Plant still needs permit
Although the report delivered to the County Commissioners by Zia Engineering on Oct. 2 focused only on “landfilling” as an alternative to Riverbend expansion and did not include alternative waste disposal technologies currently in use elsewhere, it included a very thorough cost analysis of transporting the solid waste that currently comes to Riverbend from other area landfills.
The report identifies four area landfills that have long-term capacity available. These are Coffin Butte in Corvallis and Arlington, Roosevelt and Wasco County in the Columbia Gorge.
For example, the cost increases that would be implemented for delivery of waste by WOW and Newberg Garbage to Coffin Butte, the nearest location, are $1.01 (5.6 percent) for Newberg residential customers and $3.35 (18.7 percent) for WOW customers. For commercial customers, the increases are $10.47 (8 percent) and $34.80 (18 percent), respectively.
You will recognize that these percent increases are significantly less than the rate increases that Riverbend publicized if waste were to be transported to other locations, especially the 250 percent rate increase figure that Riverbend used to intimidate local businesses into supporting their proposed expansion.
Another Riverbend PR campaign is the methane-to-electricity generating plant. Implementation of this plant has already been widely publicized by Riverbend; however, it is not yet a “done deal.” A DEQ air quality permit approval is required for its operation. The hearing on this permit is not scheduled until Oct. 20 and, without this DEQ permit, the plant cannot operate.
How can Riverbend be so sure that they will receive the permit that they publicize the operation of the plant several weeks before the date of the hearing and receipt of the permit itself?
Susan Meredith
McMinnville
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