Editor’s note - The landfill property in Wasco County is owned by Waste Connections, and Wasco County leadership is responsible for awarding the franchise to use the facility. This letter refers to Wasco County as the landlord, which is not correct according to Wasco County Commissioner Steve Kramer. “Waste Connections is the landlord,” he said.
From Gary Wade and Marlis Rufener:
Waste Connections is requesting a 10-year permit extension to operate Wasco County Landfill. Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) sent a Public Notice for comments and supporting information to just a few adjacent landowners. There are a number of problems with this extension request and we strongly believe that all residents of the County should have an opportunity to review the permit request and respond.
Wasco County landfill used to be just a local landfill. Now Waste Connections, with agreements from the landlord Wasco County, has turned the landfill into a regional landfill for communities across the Pacific Northwest. The amount of waste received at the landfill has doubled, or even tripled compared to amounts received 15 to 20 years ago. Anyone who has lives nearby, or just passes the landfill regularly, sees the mountain of garbage that is growing there. Waste Connections claims that there is 30 years of space left in the landfill, but there is no information or analysis provided to support those claims. DEQ does not have the authority to limit the amount of garbage received by the landfill, but Wasco County does. The Commissioners need to know what you think of the idea that soon Wasco County residents may have to pay more to send their garbage to someone else’s county for disposal. Using the landfill for regional garbage only benefits Waste Connections, whose net profits in 2023 was over $762 million, not the residents of the County.
Besides the huge increase in garbage, there are other problems with the landfill as operated. Have you noticed the stench when the wind blows from the direction of the landfill. Anyone within a mile or two frequently smells a foul odor coming from the direction of the dump. County residents will have to live with that for years to come. The landfill also attracts numerous birds and pests that feed off the garbage and make it their year-round home. Our cherry orchard next door often has 50 or more ravens sitting in the tops of our trees. The ravens, eat the cherries, tear the spurs off the limbs, and excrete all over the fruit. This is a huge health and safety issue for adjacent other nearby orchards and residents. Landfills frequently experience fires (8,300 fires in 2016). In July of 2017 there was a major fire in the landfill. Waste Connections staff was inadequately prepared to put the fire immediately out as required by their DEQ permit, and the fire smoldered and sent toxic smoke for days across the area. No one was notified of the possible effects of this smoke, not even the neighbors.
We believe that most Wasco County residents no nothing of what is happening at their landfill, and that they should be informed of the potential consequences of operating the landfill as a regional dump, have an opportunity to comment on the permit extension, and have their comments taken seriously.
Here is the website where you can access the information and provide comments to DEQ
https://www.oregon.gov/deq/get-involved/documents/061424PNWascoLF.pdf
Comments to Wasco County likely should be made to the County Commissioners.
Gary Wade and Marlis Rufener
