Benton County Commissioners have denied the application to expand the Coffin Butte landfill, in a major reversal of their decision last year.
The commissioners voted 2-1 in November to approve the expansion, despite concerns from community members over odor and fire risk.
But days later, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality announced it was planning to take enforcement action against the current landfill, citing poor covering, incomplete monitoring practices, and an undersized gas collection system.
In a report last month, county staff said the state's letter potentially undermined the odor study submitted by the landfill’s owner, Republic Services. They recommended denying the application.
On Tuesday, the commissioners voted unanimously to reverse their previous decision and adopt the staff's findings. Commissioners Nancy Wyse and Pat Malone both switched their positions from the vote in November.
“I view the evidence in the DEQ letter and the evaluation of that letter by the county's experts as more credible than Republic's expert evidence,” said Wyse at the hearing.
Mason Leavitt with Beyond Toxics, a Eugene-based environmental nonprofit, celebrated the decision Tuesday. He said it was a step towards "sound, science-based" land-use decisions for the landfill.
“I never expected that the commissioners would get a second chance at looking at this evidence and incorporating it into their thinking, and I was relieved that they could,” said Leavitt.
Ken Eklund, a resident of the Soap Creek Valley, said he felt a mix of relief and frustration. He said he was proud of the community members who raised enough money to appeal the earlier decision, which gave commissioners the ability to revisit and reconsider the application.
However, Eklund said the community has been trying to communicate these issues to Wyse and Malone all throughout this process, and they've only now listened.
"The community was already aware that there was this investigation going on, and all of these problems were happening at the landfill," said Eklund. "The pre-enforcement notice by the Oregon DEQ didn't really add much to the conversation factually—those things were already on the table. What it really did is just make it unignorable."
Republic Services could still appeal Tuesday decision to the state Land Use Board of Appeals. In an email to KLCC Tuesday, the company said the commissioners had erred in their findings.
"We are evaluating next steps and remain focused on operating Coffin Butte Landfill, a regional asset, in a safe and responsible manner," wrote a Republic spokesperson.
