An Oregon landfill known for massive methane leaks may soon be required to regulate those emissions using advanced technology, like drones, planes or satellites.
Last week, Oregon lawmakers passed Senate Bill 726. Once signed by Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, it will require the Coffin Butte Landfill in Benton County to expand its system for monitoring methane releases.
FILE - The Coffin Butte landfill is permitted to accept 1.1 million tons of waste each year.
Nathan Wilk / KLCC
The bill could have done more. When first drafted, it applied to all landfills in Oregon. But landfill operators and some local governments opposed the far-reaching legislation, prompting lawmakers to narrow it to a landfill that gets the most media attention.
“It was a political choice,” said Democratic Sen. Sara Gelser Blouin of Corvallis, who sponsored the bill on behalf of her constituents in the region. “I would have preferred that it was more broad, but we have to start someplace.”
Organic materials like food, yard waste and paper products release methane as they decompose. Landfills usually collect this gas and turn it into fuel or burn it off. But methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere, can leak outside of this system when lands shift or animals burrow.
Like most municipal solid-waste landfills in Oregon, Coffin Butte uses handheld devices to record methane leaks as part of its federally required emissions monitoring. This decades-old approach requires staff to walk across dozens of acres of buried trash.
Methane levels above large swaths of many landfills aren’t measured because some areas are too steep or too dangerous for people to walk across. Other technologies could fill these gaps, like satellite imagery, sensors and drones.
During the bill’s public hearings, landfill operators argued this technology was not precise enough, not readily available and too expensive.
“They’re currently paying people to walk across the landfill,” Rep. Sarah Finger McDonald, D-Corvalis, said. “So, the argument that it’s expensive seems a little silly.”
Over two dozen counties send their trash to the 178-acre Coffin Butte Landfill north of Corvallis. Republic Services, a Phoenix-based company that owns and operates the landfill, has asked the county for a land-use permit so it could expand.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is in the middle of investigating the landfill for excessive methane leaks. The agency subpoenaed Republic Services in January, demanding information about the garbage it accepts and the types of emissions monitoring it uses.
For years, people living near the landfill have complained about chemical-like odors and worried about the potential health impacts from these fumes.
“Coffin Butte has taken immediate action to address any methane exceedances that it detected, or that the EPA identified during its inspections,” Republic Services senior manager Melissa Quillard said in a statement.
Coffin Butte isn’t the only landfill that leaks methane. Municipal solid waste landfills are the third- largest source of human-related methane emissions in the U.S., behind fuel and ranching sectors.
This particular landfill has gotten a lot of attention due to its proximity to residents, particularly academics who may be more used to navigating political systems, Gelser Blouin said. The landfill is about 11 miles away from Oregon State University, a university known for its science and research.
“Where this landfill is located in relation to the community is very significant,” Gelser Blouin said. “I mean, it’s a university community with a lot of scientists.”
She sees this bill as an opportunity to pilot a new way to monitor landfill pollution, and a launching point for future legislation.
But some other supporters worry that chance to build on SB 726 will never come, as pollution like methane and carbon dioxide hasten global climate change.
“We’re talking about a time-sensitive issue here,” Mason Leavitt, programs coordinator at the environmental nonprofit Beyond Toxics, said. “I think we’re in a comfortable space to move forward with the whole state, and that’s not what happened. That’s just politics.”
