Lane County leaders are asking Oregon lawmakers to clear legal hurdles to build a planned recycling and methane extraction facility known as the IMERF, or CleanLane project.
The project, currently slated for the Goshen area south of Eugene, is designed to increase the life of the Short Mountain Landfill by recovering more recyclables and turning food waste into natural gas.
Lane County is in the process of appealing a denied permit for the project. It’s also asked the state to step in.
Lane County Legal Counsel Rob Bovett told the House Rules Committee that the bill follows the format the state has used to build other difficult to place facilities like emergency homeless shelters called “super siting.”
"Zoning ordinances didn't contemplate, didn't anticipate modern technology such as the IMERF,” he said. “We need a place to site the IMERF sooner, rather than later so we can accomplish the goals that the legislature has set out."
Bovett said the county would still have to go through required state, and federal environmental reviews before the project is actually built. He said the Goshen property under appeal now isn’t the county’s only option, but similar land use problems will likely be an issue wherever the facility is located.
The bill is supported by several members of the region’s legislative delegation including Rep. Lisa Fragala, Sen. James Manning and Sen. Floyd Prozanski.
During Wednesday’s public hearing, Prozanski said he had tried to address the concerns of people who lived near the project by limiting the bill to only Lane County and requiring public hearing before the county could move forward with its permit.
“We’re authorizing local control and allowing for the individuals who have pros, or cons on the subject to have that conversation on the local level,” he said.
The project has divided the county commission and public opinion. Many Eugene residents testified in support. Many living in outlying communities, and near the facility, oppose it.
Republicans on the committee - including Representative Darin Harbick whose district includes the site of the proposed facility – accused the county of asking for special treatment.
Harbick said neighbors and businesses had made their feelings about the CleanLane project clear and any action from lawmakers was “legislative interference.”
“Testifying against my own county is not something I like to do,” Harbick said, “but I felt that I had to speak up for my constituents.”
Many smaller garbage and recycling haulers also oppose the bill.
In a news release sent to KLCC on May 13, Jake Pelroy, a spokesperson for the Lane County Garbage and Recycling Association, called the bill a “legislative shortcut.”
"This bill disrespects decades of carefully crafted land use and environmental protections for Goshen,” Pelroy said. “Forcibly transforms explicitly banned activities into mandatory approvals, and harshly punishes citizens brave enough to defend their communities and the environment by imposing attorney fees against any citizen who dares to try to enforce Oregon’s land use laws."
Environmental groups, on the other hand, have praised the proposal, including Eugene-based Beyond Toxics.
Mason Leavitt, GIS Analyst and Programs Coordinator for Beyond Toxics, testified in support of the bill. He said the state’s landfills are a major source of emissions and the project could make Lane County a more responsible alternative for other counties that are running out of space, or don’t have their own landfills.
“The single, most effective way to eliminate landfill emissions is to stop putting organic waste in them,” Leavitt said.
The bill was introduced late directly into the House Rules committee - which means it's exempt from most regular session deadlines.
