Media Coverage

Landfill berm gets DEQ nod

Land use - Proposal approved pending public comment period, hearing

March 5, 2013

McMINNVILLE - The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has approved, pending a public comment process, the request by Riverbend Landfill and its owner, Waste Management Inc., to build a mechanically stabilized earthen berm along the western perimeter of its existing footprint.

The wall - designed to be 1,700 feet long, 34 feet wide at the top and 25 to 40 feet tall - is meant to increase the landfill's capacity by approximately 1 million cubic yards without increasing its height, thereby extending the operation's life expectancy by a couple more years.

DEQ permit engineer Bob Schwarz, who is assigned to Riverbend, said the project was approved because it satisfies the regulations that "identify how a landfill has to be designed, built and operated." The department has been reviewing the proposal for more than a year, with one of the central components being the project's seismic capabilities.

"One of the key issues was whether the seismic analysis was done properly, and we believe it has," Schwarz said.

Riverbend, DEQ and the project's primary opponent, the Waste Not of Yamhill County/Stop the Dump Coalition, all hired separate geotechnical consultants to review the plans. The coalition, with the support of its consultant, Kleinfelder, had argued for a number of reasons that the berm needed to be designed to withstand a magnitude-9.0 quake.

The magnitude the berm was ultimately approved for was 8.5. Schwarz said one of the key questions taken into account was the magnitude of what the next major earthquake to hit Oregon would be.

"Their expert did a probabilistic analysis, and their opinion was that the probability defined in the (seismic) regulations translates to a magnitude-8.5 earthquake," he said. "We hired our own expert to review that work. There was correspondence back and forth, and in the end, our consultant agreed with the conclusions of the landfill consultant."

The Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (commonly called DOGAMI), at the request of DEQ, also weighed in on the matter, expressing the opinion in a Jan. 16 letter that the 9.0 standard be used. Schwarz's final report recommending approval said the two departments had met twice after that letter and that DOGAMI staff had concluded "there is room for professional differences" in how a probabilistic seismic analysis is conducted, and "generally, the assumptions and analysis used met the standard of practice for this work."

Opponents were sharply critical of the DEQ's decision.

"We're deeply troubled by it, obviously, because it makes for a double standard in the state," said Ramsey McPhillips, a farmer whose winegrowing operation is located next to Riverbend and a leader in the fight against the landfill. "All these public works projects - bridges, dams, the energy grid - they're all being modeled to 9.0."

He said his farm and other opponents felt they now have "no choice" but to sue the DEQ. However, Ilsa Perse, president of the Waste Not coalition, took more of a wait-and-see approach. She said her organization would reserve final judgment until after the public hearing (DEQ has said it could modify its proposed permit decision based on the comments it receives).

"We're considering our options," she said.

Still, her group was no less concerned than McPhillips about the 8.5 design.

"We thought for sure DEQ was going to get in line with all these agencies that are using a very different number," she said. "We are very surprised that DEQ is willing to work the numbers to make it convenient for Waste Management, but will probably not be as prudent for public safety."

But Jackie Lang, communications director for the Oregon division of Waste Management, rebuked criticism that the berm wouldn't be safe during an earthquake.

"We are confident in our design," she said. "The berm is designed by world-renowned experts in the geo-engineering field." She argued that DEQ made the right decision.

"The DEQ set a high bar for this project, and we met it in full," she said. "We are pleased to see the agency take a step forward for a project that is important both for Riverbend's continued operation and Yamhill County."

The berm, part of an estimated $12 million Waste Management plans to invest in Riverbend in 2013, is expected to start construction later this year, provided the permit is finalized by DEQ.

The public hearing on the proposed approval of the project will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. March 28 at the McMinnville Senior Center, 2250 NE McDaniel Lane. Comments may also be submitted before 5 p.m. April 5 by phone, fax, mail or email. For more information, call 1-541-298-7255, ext. 230, or visit www.deq.state.or.us/nwr/RiverbendLandfill.htm.

DEQ grants tentative berm approval

February 25, 2013

After more than a year of analysis and review, the state Department of Environmental Quality announced Monday its intention to approve Riverbend Landfill's plan for construction of earthen berm rising to a maximum height of 40 feet along the fill's highway side.

The tenative approval is subject to formal ratification following a public hearing set for 6 p.m. Thursday, March 28, and a public comment extending through 5 p.m. Friday, April 5, assuming nothing emerges in those venues to significantly alter the equation.

Expecting to run out of space on its current footprint sometime next year, Riverbend's parent company, Waste Management Inc., is seeking approval for a major expansion that would allow it decades of additional operating time. In the meantime, it is proposing to buy a few years of additional breathing room by erecting a berm for more fill capacity.

The company initially proposed berms along the river side of the site as well, but scaled back in the face of intense opposition. It says the berm remaining on the drawing board would provide 1 million cubic yards of additional space, which is critical to its continued operation.

Yamhill County Planner Ken Friday said the tentative approval is in accordance with DEQ protocols. He said the agency had asked the county to supply the addresses of neighboring property owners so they could be formally notified.

Immediate neighbor Ramsey McPhillips, who has been helping lead the opposition, was quick to criticize the decision.

He said other entities in Oregon are being held to higher earthquake protection benchmarks by other agencies, in recognition of the risk of a magnitude-9 Cascade Subduction Zone quake. "The state seems to have a double standard, protecting the people crossing bridges on one level and protecting people in Yamhill County and the aquifer surrounding the landfill on another," he said.

"Obviously, we knew this was coming," McPhillips acknowledged. "The remedy is our group is going to have to sue, sadly, the DEQ," he said.

Riverbend spokeswoman Jackie Lang offered an equal but opposite reaction to the news.

"We are very pleased to have earned this vote of confidence from state regulators," she said. "The DEQ set a high bar for this project, and we met it with world-class geo-environmental engineering to protect the environment and meet the application requirements."

She said, "This is an important step forward for a project that will mean more than a $12 million capital investment in this community in 2013." Comments can be made in person at the March meeting; mailed to Bob Schwarz, Permit Engineer, Oregon DEQ, 400 E. Scenic Drive, Suite 307, The Dalles, OR 97058; or posted online at www.deq.state.or.us/nwr/RiverbendLandfill.htm.