TAKE ACTION NOW!

There are many ways you can help stop the dump expansion!

1.  Attend the Yamhill County Commissioners Application Hearing on MARCH 19, Thursday, starting at 1:00 p.m. It will be held in Room 103 of the McMinnville Community Center.

This meeting could run very late. If you can’t come at 1:00 PM, come later. The opponents of the expansion will be second on the agenda. You can be present and provide moral support and be a visible symbol of those who are opposing the approval of this application. The more people there the better! You can speak to the commissioners regarding your own concerns about the expansion. (Please bring written copy if possible so this can become part of the permanent record.) You can bring written testimony to be submitted to the commissioners.

2.  Write letters to the editors of all three local papers: The Newberg Graphic (gallen@eaglenewspapers.com) The News Register (csollars@newsregister.com), and the Sheridan Sun (news@sheridansun.com).

3.  If you notice an odor coming from the landfill you can report this to DEQ. Email Gary Andes, ANDES.Gary@deq.state.or.us  He needs to know when you smelled it, where you were and on a scale of 1 to 10 how bad was the odor. This is very helpful and important. You are to report the odor every time you smell it. Encourage others to do the same.

4.  We would appreciate donations to Waste Not of Yamhill County to help us pay our attorney fees.  Waste Management (Riverbend) has a large group of attorneys helping them obtain approval. We have one very good attorney who we are using on a limited basis. Send donations to: Waste Not of Yamhill Count, P.O. Box  1016, McMinnville, OR 97128

5.  Spread the word. Now is the time to be vocal so our County Commissioners know where the residents of this county stand on this application!

Why?

Who is Waste Not of Yamhill County and why are we opposing the landfill expansion?

County residents who want to help Yamhill County make informed decisions about handling solid waste in the 21st century formed a new organization, Waste Not of Yamhill County.  The mission of Waste Not of Yamhill County is to oppose the expansion of Riverbend Landfill and to promote alternative solutions for solid waste disposal. Waste Not recognizes that the County has a window of opportunity, now, to explore waste disposal options that both protect the environment and benefit the community economically, creating family-wage jobs while protecting our thriving local tourism and agricultural industries.

Waste Not is joining other voices in the community ­­– Farm Bureau, the Soil & Water Conservation District, Bumperfuel Group, Willamette Valley Wineries Association and many more small businesses and individuals – who oppose the landfill expansion. 

Yamhill County is fortunate that our solid waste-handling contract is coming up for renewal in six years. We have ample time to analyze and bid on new solid waste disposal methods that do not depend on the archaic use of landfills. We want the residents of our county, not a Texas corporation, to take control of and make decisions regarding our waste issues. It is important that we do not miss this opportunity and get locked in to another twenty-year contract and a growing mountain of out-of-county trash marring the beauty of our county.

Alternative waste disposal options such as enhanced recycling/zero waste, digester-to-fuel systems, cellulosic ethanol conversion, gasification and plasma arc technology, would provide more jobs and also increase the revenue going to our county government. These alternatives also have the potential to lower, not increase, the garbage fees of individuals and businesses in our county. Trash, once thought to be a necessary evil taken to the dump, is now coveted as a usable, money-generating commodity processed to make fuel. We are encouraging Waste Management, the Texas based owner of Riverbend, to implement one of these newer technologies here in Yamhill County. If not Waste Management, there are other competitive corporations that have a strong financial incentive to provide inexpensive solid waste services that use environmentally beneficial green technology.

Our efforts to stop the expansion have been validated by the Yamhill County Planning Commission. In January the Planning Commission unanimously voted to deny Riverbend’s expansion application. On March 19^th the application will go before the Yamhill County Commissioners for their vote. We encourage all concerned Yamhill county residents to attend.

Garbage Avalanche

The great garbage avalanche of 2505
Uploaded by deep

Odor Getting You Down? Take Action

By Gary Andes

You can send your odor notices or complaints to me at this email address,  ANDES.Gary@deq.state.or.us  I would also suggest you send them to the manager of the Riverbend Landfill, George Duvendack, at gduvendack@wm.com so that he is simultaneously aware of the odor situations and can investigate them more immediately than I might be able to.  

Information you should provide us would be:  date and time of odor (eg.,2/10/09 from 8:30 am to 10:30 am), location of the odor (eg., 17000 SW Highway 18, 700 McCabe Chapel Road, or Home Depot store in West McMinnville), intensity of the odor on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the worst (this I know will be subjective for each individual but assume 1 is just barely noticeable and 10 is making you nauseous).

I have a similar odor reporting system set up for the Coffin Butte Landfill near Corvallis. Hopefully, such a system will allow for determination of what at the landfill might be causing a particular odor at any point in time.  But please remember that any landfill will always have some odor no matter how hard they try to avoid it and no matter how good their gas collection and destruction system is.    

Garbage Robot

Film clip from movie Wall-E. Disney, 2008

http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/walle/hd/

This little fellow, Wall-E, is a 2600 AD garbage robot doing his job on planet earth. The earth has been abandoned because it is no longer inhabitable. The earth is one big landfill. Not that far from the truth if we don't make changes soon. However, it is a very cute Disney movie and is good family entertainment.

Landfill Hearing Rescheduled

by Kris Bledsoe

The landfill hearing before the Yamhill County Board of Commissioners has been rescheduled to March 19th beginning at 1:00 PM. It will be held at the McMinnville Community Center. It will begin with the proponents' (Waste Management and Riverbend Landfill) presentation. This will be followed by Waste Not's (that's us) testimony against the expansion. All additional interested parties against the expansion will then have an opportunity to testify. Although not required, verbal testimonies should be documented by submitting a written version to the permanent record.

If you cannot attend the hearing we ask you consider submitting a letter, prior to the hearing, to the Commissioners.

We encourage as many people as possible to come to this hearing. You do not have to speak or provide written testimony. Your physical presence helps demonstrate the depth of concern regarding this application. It will be a long hearing. There will be a dinner break. If you cannot come at 1:00 PM please come later as your schedule permits. Make your voice heard! We need your support! Please spread the word!

After all new testimony is presented the Commissioners either vote that evening or may schedule another time for voting.

Group not "small"

Published in the News Register: February 7, 2009

by Mickey Anderson

The "small but vocal group of citizens" Dan Hinmon refers to (Readers' Forum, Jan. 31) can count among its members representatives of the Oregon wine industry, which, according to a 2005 study, contributed nearly $1.4 billion to the Oregon's economy.

In 2007, Yamhill County's share of this billion-dollar industry was 38 percent of Oregon's wineries and 30 percent of its vineyards, producing over 42 percent of its raw material: grapes. These business owners bring credibility to the table, along with many concerns.

They look beyond the aromatic nature of garbage, noise and visual pollution. Their worry is a loss in property value, a real concern measured by the lending rules of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. As principal underwriter of mortgages, HUD excludes funding of properties within 3,000 feet of a landfill. One estimate of property impacted by Riverbend indicates that today, over 1,200 acres could potentially be blocked from any future development requiring HUD support.

Mr. Hinmon expressed concerns about the environmental impact of not expanding Riverbend, but it isn't clear if he considered that the bulk of the waste originates from the Portland metro area. Given the opportunities of waste transfer out of Portland by means other than trucks, e.g. rail, a reduction in cost and environmental impact seems more likely, particularly when coupled with a railhead in Yamhill County.

Noted by the editor was Mr. Hinmon's prior contractual commitment to Riverbend and his current position as board chair of the McMinnville Chamber of Commerce. On behalf of its members, this organization supported Riverbend and Waste Management's position on the landfill expansion. I hope Mr. Hinmon and fellow board member George Duvendack, general manager of Riverbend, reclused themselves from any dialog, peer influence or vote.

Many opponents of landfill

Published in the News Register: February 7, 2009

by Clarke Ellingson

I take exception to Dan Hinmon's letter (Readers' Forum, Jan. 31). He attempts to characterize opponents of Riverbend Landfill's expansion as "a small but vocal group of citizens." This couldn't be further from the truth.

I bet the crowds at the planning commission hearings were some of the biggest ever. Long-time farm families, including owners of century farms, were joined by relatively new Yamhill County residents. Riverbend neighbors were joined by people from all over the county, voicing their opposition to the zone change request. Yamhill County Farm Bureau, Yamhill County Soil and Water Conservation District, the wine and tourism industries, as well as 1000 Friends of Oregon, all weighed in opposing Riverbend's expansion plans.

During the November election, Riverbend supporters called for the defeat of Measure 36-119. Former Mayor Gormley called in "an effort to end-run the land use process" and the News-Register editorial board said "let the land use process run its course as a quasi-judicial governmental process, not as land use planning via the ballot box."

Well, Riverbend's land-use application was soundly rejected by a unanimous vote of the planning commission. All who took the time to read and study Riverbend's application and testified have my utmost respect. I don't think the diversity and diligence of Riverbend's opposition will be lost on the board of commissioners when they take up the matter in March.

I am a full-time farmer. I live and work every day within sight of Riverbend. Many of my neighbors opposed the siting of the original landfill and have been adversely affected by it ever since. I oppose covering some of the valley's best farmland with garbage. I appreciate the News-Register pointing out Dan Hinmon's involvement with Riverbend. In my opinion, it's not hard to tell who butters his bread.

A Different Legacy

Published in the News Register: February 7, 2009

by Susan Meredith

Despite the News-Register's disclaimer that Dan Hinmon's letter (Readers' Forum, Jan. 31) was personal opinion, he simply restated the marketing pieces Riverbend paid him to create last fall. At the Yamhill County Planning Commissio hearing in November, he testified in support of Riverbend's expansion application. Consequently, his statements cannot be considered unbiased and credible; in fact, many are misleading.

This compromises his position as chair of the McMinnville Area Chamber of Commerce. How can he fairly represent the entire business community on an issue when he was paid to market a position that is favorable to one member of the community?

His reference to Riverbend being a "good neighbor" contradicts the testimony given by neighbors at the hearing regarding the stench, noise and visual pollution that Riverbend creates.

His statement regarding alternative technologies being unproven is simply not true. Waste Management currently utilizes alternative methods at other sites they own. It's true for several other companies at sites inside and outside the United States, and the installation cost is not borne by the local community.

The Arlington site owned by Waste Management is a viable solution. Our air pollution from trucks would decrease, not increase, because fewer trucks would come here. Riverbend states that the cost increase to ship to Arlington would be a little over a dollar per month.

What kind of local economy is going to survive with a looming 260-foot mountain of waste? The Yamhill County wine industry supports nearly 3,000 jobs and contributes over $20 million each year to our economy, plus ancillary revenue supporting myriad other local businesses. That makes Riverbend's contributions pale in comparison.

The best way to protect everyone's economy is to close Riverbend in 2014, as scheduled. That is the legacy that we should leave for the future.