As Erin Bradley walks through a small pasture just north of Corvallis, she picks up pieces of trash.
“The plastics are everywhere now, and it's not going to get better,” she said.
Bradley is the Director of Bit By Bit Adaptive Riding, an equine assisted therapy nonprofit that specializes in providing a therapeutic horse riding program for special needs foster children and adults.
But a constant influx of trash–which she says comes from the adjacent Coffin Butte Landfill–has meant a shift in how the organization serves its clients. In recent months, Bit By Bit has only been able to offer limited services at a temporary indoor location.
“We have had no therapy horses on the property since October,” said Bradley.
Bit By Bit’s property is bordered by Coffin Butte on two sides. The landfill is managed by Valley Landfills, a subsidiary of waste management company Republic Services.
Coffin Butte has recently been under scrutiny, with the Benton County Commissioners denying its application to expand. In March, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued an over $3 million fine to Coffin Butte for several state and federal air quality violations. These violations include inadequate methane monitoring, the lack of a plan to repair the landfill’s covering, and failure to install a correctly sized gas collection system.
Bradley said it just isn’t safe anymore for the horses to stay on the property. She said trash flies over the landfill’s barrier tree line, the property has poor air quality, and blasting operations at the landfill cause the animals distress.
In the property's current state, all animals would have to be supervised while grazing to ensure they don’t consume trash.
“The lack of turnout time has really affected the horses, which is also why we moved them,” said Bradley. “They're grazing animals and it has affected their quality of life.”
In an email to KLCC, a representative from Republic Services said windy conditions can cause loose trash to escape the waste placement area. They said during high wind conditions they have teams that monitor the landfill's perimeter fence to collect this debris.
Air quality has also been a major concern for properties near Coffin Butte. Bradley said both volunteers and animals on the property began having negative symptoms from what she thinks is the poor air quality.
“Our volunteers became very fatigued as well as our therapy animals. We noticed hand-sized hives on the horses all over their bodies," said Bradley.
Republic Services said it’s invested over $10.5 million into the landfill's gas collection system since 2019. The company said it makes every effort to control odor, and will investigate complaints reported to the Coffin Butte Landfill website.
Uncertain future
As she looks out at Bit By Bit’s property, Bradley isn't sure about the organization’s future.
“We're trying to find a solution, but if not, we will be closing,” said Bradley.
She said one of their 12-year-old clients has especially missed working with the animals.
“He didn't know if he could be okay without seeing the other animals,” said Bradley.
The recent fine was the largest in the Oregon DEQ’s history. The department also ordered Coffin Butte to create plans that will improve the landfill’s covering and methane emissions.
Republic Services has appealed the fine and enforcement order. The improvement plans were supposed to be sent to the DEQ by May 15 and implemented this month, but corrective actions are not legally required until a final order is made.
According to DEQ spokesperson Dylan Darling, the agency is under settlement discussions with Republic Services, and has requested the company to keep working on the improvement orders. Coffin Butte has submitted one of the required improvement plans, which is currently under review by the DEQ.
Bradley said the most viable option is to sell the current property and move Bit By Bit elsewhere, but she said Republic Services is not interested in buying their land. She said even if conditions at Coffin Butte improve, the nonprofit still wants to move somewhere that isn’t next to a landfill.
