Yamhill County Commissioners Approve Landfill Expansion

Although we are disappointed by the vote of the Yamhill County Bd of Commissioners to approve Riverbend Landfill’s land-use application, we are not deterred from our mission to stop expansion of this outdated unnecessary use of farmland and floodplain. We will be reviewing our options with our attorney but we fully expect to appeal this decision.

Ironically, as this legal process moves forward, neither Waste Management’s landfill expansion nor an alternative waste disposal method will be advanced in the County. Had the Commissioners denied the application, the County could have opened a competitive process to identify the most beneficial solid waste system for Yamhill County while Waste Management Inc., operator of Riverbend Landfill, sued to overturn the decision. Now, Yamhill County’s solid waste policy will be stalled and neither a landfill nor an alternative will be pursued until the courts have had their final say. When that day arrives, we will find ourselves behind the rest of the region, which will have moved on to alternatives. Yamhill County will have lost its chance to direct the region’s waste flow into a greener solid waste resource economy and will once again be beholden to outside forces.

Waste Not is determined to preserve the County’s farm lands, including the river, drinking water aquifer , and tourist corridor, from the obsolete process of land filling. Like the Commissioners, we hope, Waste Management will shift to the solid waste alternatives they promote in other jurisdictions, and that WMI will move on from this unnecessary landfill expansion to a solution that favors the County’s long term economic and environmental health. We are concerned that approval of this expansion has removed all incentive for WMI to implement modern solid waste practices.

Waste Not Of Yamhill County is dedicated to the pursuit of alternatives to our solid waste problem. We will continue advocating for reduced waste generation and for disposal methods that are safe, fair, cost effective, and sustainable.