The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has issued a more than $3 million penalty against the owners of the Coffin Butte landfill.
The DEQ says it's the largest civil fine that the agency has ever issued throughout its entire history.
In an enforcement order Wednesday, the state accused Valley Landfills, a subsidiary of Republic Services, of environmental violations dating back to 2021 at its landfill north of Corvallis.
The DEQ said the company failed to properly monitor the site for methane emissions, didn’t have a plan to regularly repair the landfill’s covering, and submitted inaccurate emissions reports to the state.
The order also claimed the landfill didn’t install a properly sized gas collection system and failed to consistently keep the flares it did have turned on.
The majority of the civil penalty, more than $2.2 million, is for the costs Republic Services allegedly avoided by failing to take these precautions.
“The landfill covers a very large area. There's a number of quarters and a number of years for which they've been out of compliance,” said Erin Saylor, the manager of DEQ’s enforcement office. “And so all of that adds up.”
The DEQ’s order demands corrective action from Valley Landfills, setting deadlines in May, June, and October.
The state is asking the company to submit improved plans for surface monitoring, dust mitigation, a gas-control system, and monthly repairs to landfill covering.
It also wants the company to make repairs to its covering that were identified by a consultant earlier this year.
Saylor said if Valley Landfills invests money into making these improvements, the company could see its penalties reduced.
She said the company has 20 days to appeal. She said it's likely the DEQ will end up negotiating about the landfill's next steps and its deadlines.
“The issuance of the enforcement is really just the start of the process,” said Saylor. “We'll have this lengthy conversation with them going forward to ensure that we get to a place where they pay an adequate penalty to deter future non-compliance, but also, more importantly, bring them into compliance going forward.”
In an email to KLCC Wednesday, a Republic Services spokesperson said it had received the DEQ's notice and planned to work closely with state regulators to reach a resolution.
Beyond Toxics reacts
The enforcement action follows years of community complaints about odor at the Coffin Butte Landfill. The DEQ took over the case from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last October.
Recently, the Benton County Board of Commissioners rejected an application to expand the landfill, citing the DEQ’s announcement that it was planning to take enforcement action.
Mason Leavitt with Beyond Toxics, an environmental watchdog group which has criticized the landfill's operations, said he had mixed feelings about the DEQ’s announcement Wednesday.
Leavitt said the fine was an important step, but he’s worried it’s only a drop in the bucket for Republic Services, a Fortune 500 company.
“Is this going to be enough money to get Republic Services to change their behavior and approach things differently?” said Leavitt. “That I’m less sure of.”
Leavitt said some community members no longer trust the company's reports about its own site. But he believes DEQ's accounts could be more credible.
"I want to see a much more hands-on approach by DEQ," said Leavitt, "really knowing that some of the things that Republic Services says are happening are in fact happening on the ground."
