The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality says it's taking enforcement action against the Coffin Butte landfill north of Corvallis.
The agency sent a pre-enforcement notice to the landfill’s owner, a subsidiary of Republic Services, last Thursday.
The letter describes poor physical covering at the landfill, and an undersized gas collection system. It also claims the company has excluded large portions of the site from emissions monitoring without proper justification.
"We reviewed reports going back to 2022, and we saw problems in every report," DEQ spokesperson Dylan Darling told KLCC.
The DEQ is now requesting more information from Republic Services about its gas wells and past emission leaks, while calling for corrective action.
By the beginning of next year, the agency wants the company to apply for drone monitoring at the site, and submit a new flare maintenance plan.
By Feb. 1, it’s requesting third-party inspections around landfill covering and dust management, as well as a design for an improved gas collection system.
Darling said the way the company responds will shape the actual enforcement notice, which he expects to come early next year.
“If they don't provide information, they don't take any corrective actions, that will be factored in, and it can make the enforcement have a higher civil penalty," said Darling. “And those things that were asked for could become orders.”
In an email to KLCC Friday, Republic Services spokesperson Melissa Quillard said many of the concerns in this notice are older matters that the company has already addressed, or is in the process of addressing.
Quillard said the company has already begun testing technologies like drones and rovers, and will work closely with DEQ on next steps.
“The landfill is continually taking action to enhance its operations, including repairing landfill cover and significantly increasing the surface area included in emissions monitoring,” wrote Quillard. “We also are diligently monitoring gas well data and adjusting wells to optimize gas collection within the system.”
Beyond Toxics reacts
Mason Leavitt, a GIS Analyst & Programs Coordinator with Beyond Toxics, said the DEQ’s notice has affirmed the concerns of nearby residents and environmental watch-dog groups.
“This confirms what we've likely suspected,” said Leavitt. “There's been a huge number of odor issues at the landfill, and that is because the gas collection system is not working as it's supposed to be.”
Leavitt said the drone monitoring would be an improvement, as the current boots-on-the-ground measurements have allowed Republic to argue that parts of the landfill are too difficult to traverse.
However, he said the timing of this decision is unfortunate. The notice came just two days after the Benton County Commissioners approved an expansion of the landfill.
Leavitt said since the record is now closed, this notice can’t be introduced as evidence, even if the proposed expansion goes to the state Land Use Board of Appeals. But he said other groups had already presented similar findings about the landfill’s operations during the hearing process.
“It's hard to say how much this would have swayed commissioners in the direction that they were already moving, because they already had enough evidence to deny,” said Leavitt.
Darling said the timing of this notice is unrelated to the county’s expansion process. He said the Environmental Protection Agency referred the case to Oregon’s DEQ last month.
“We recognize the serious nature of it, and really wanted to address it quickly,” said Darling. “Our aim in this pre-enforcement notice is to bring Coffin Butte landfill back into compliance and address the violations. “
