Lane County officials are exploring whether to locate a waste and recycling diversion facility, the CleanLane project, at Short Mountain Landfill. The group of garbage haulers that helped block the county’s permit for its first-choice location is fighting this site too.
CleanLane was originally supposed to open this year, but the county’s previous chosen location was tied up for more than a year in a land-use battle that made it all the way up to Oregon’s Supreme Court.
The courts and land use officials denied Lane County’s previous special use permit, arguing it was a waste-related facility which was incompatible with the zoning in the proposed Goshen location.
The Lane Garbage and Recycling Association, and Springfield’s hauler Sanipac, previously raised similar concerns in their legal objections during that land use process. In documents submitted for Thursday’s hearing however, haulers argued the project’s planned recycling facilities, and education and visiting center, were incompatible with the existing the landfill at the Short Mountain site.
Haulers push back
At a hearing Thursday, Wendie Kellington represented LCGRA in their appeal against the project.
She argued the county’s plans to contract with a private company, Bulk Handling Systems, made it a commercial enterprise, not an allowable, government project. Kellington also raised concerns about the project’s water and electricity use, and argued that the project is an industrial complex, so the county should be required to build 460 parking spots, instead of the planned 42 spots.
“What we have here is a proposal for a fully independent, long-term, separately financed, privately operated, revenue producing, processing commodity and energy enterprise,” Kellington said, “with independent inputs, assets, duties, controls, utilities and public visitor functions that have nothing to do with the landfill.”
Kellington also argued that the main components for the project, methane extraction through aerobic digestion technology, recycling diversion and a planned visitors center, mostly consists of waste management instead of waste disposal, and therefore incompatible with the exceptions and rules outlined in county codes.
Extending life of landfill
Mason Leavitt, a GIS Analyst and Programs Coordinator with Eugene-based nonprofit Beyond Toxics, disagreed, saying the project’s main goals directly relate to the landfill.
Leavitt said if CleanLane is built, it will safely extract a large share of methane before it ever enters the landfill and leaks into the atmosphere. He said as it is now, Short Mountain Landfill is one of the biggest greenhouse gas emitters in Lane County.
"It is a source that is completely within governmental control,” Leavitt told KLCC. “That means that we get to bring our public values into how we run and operate this facility, unlike a private facility, which is usually beholden to shareholders.”
Leavitt said the facility will complement the landfill in other ways. Once that organic material is treated and the methane extracted, it will then be used in place of soil as a layer to cover the landfill.
Bulk Handling Systems will also be tasked with sorting recyclables out from trash, keeping more items out of the waste stream and extending the life of the landfill.
Josh Soper, the attorney for Lane County Public Works, called Kellington’s argument that the project needed 460 parking spots “absurd.”
He also disagreed with garbage haulers' assertions that the project was an industrial, private enterprise because of the county’s contract with Bulk Handling Systems. He said many governments contract out some services or responsibilities to private companies.
Haulers have also opposed the project because the county has raised fees on them to build it.
In a sworn, written statement to the hearings official, Jake Pelroy–the president of LCGRA and a candidate for Lane County Commissioner – argued the fees the county raised to pay for the project are a threat to the viability of hauling companies in the association.
He said the companies participating–Coburg Sanitary Service, Apex Sanitary Service, Royal Refuse, Ecosystems Transfer and Recycling, and McKenzie Disposal–were at risk of going out of business if the higher fees continued. The county typically raises tipping fees by 3% each year, but added an additional 8% in 2024 and other increases in the following year to set aside funds for the project.
CleanLane may also be in trouble on another front. Sanipac, which is owned by a national company that operates hundreds of waste facilities and haulers across the country, has diverted many Lane County residents’ trash to its parent company’s landfill near Medford. That has left Lane County short on millions of dollars for CleanLane, and its network of transfer stations.
Next steps
Devon Ashbridge, Lane County spokesperson, said no formal decision has been made yet on the project’s location and the county is exploring the viability of Short Mountain Landfill.
Last month, commissioners were scheduled to consider pursuing a zoning change at the previous location in the wake of their special use permit being denied. They instead paused any decision to give county staff more time.
A hearing examiner decision on Short Mountain is expected in October. If either party disagrees, they can appeal to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals.
