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My sympathy to pinot susan!  The smells are atrocious, as well as the other concerns you raise.  I have lived in Yamhill County since 1990, and have been fighting the operations at this landfill ever since.  Two owners later, they claim that there "is no danger" (right, Will Robinson!) yet just the site itself (next to the South Yamhill River) has the potential to pollute the aquifer that runs approx 20 miles in either direction underground. 

The sights and smells of the (currently) 14 storey high mountain of garbage are unliveable at best!  Coming home from the Coast with my kids, we have been accosted by the smell in our (windows rolled up, air-conditioned) car. 

The current and former owner's history of exploiting the ever-changing host of county commissioners by changing (and currently attempting to change) State mandated Land Use zoning laws to accommodate and expand the County's definition of 'County use" to "Regional" landfill.  This has, over the years, made this small, vineyard and winery friendly area of the Willamette Valley host to the garbage of our own county, plus most of the Portland metro area, the state of Washington, and was previously witnessed (by me personally) British Columbia, Canada! 

A a former winery owner, I was appalled at the overloaded garbage hauler trucks (in the 90's) that used to end-run the highway weigh stations along Hwy 99W.  The trucks would detour through Newberg onto Hwy 240, thru small towns on their way to the south end of McMinnville, where the dump is located several miles out of town. 

Farmers still farm on land immediately adjacent; but like the New Orleans fishermen, whose product is contaminated by association with their geographic area, you won't see me buying food from produce stands in that area to put on my family's table!

posted 2 years, 9 months ago
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