FILE - The Coffin Butte landfill in Benton County, Ore., pictured on July 31, 2024.
Nathan Wilk / KLCC
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has issued a penalty of more than $3 million 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 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 expenses 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, and she expects the DEQ will end up negotiating about these deadlines and the exact steps that the landfill needs to take.
“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’d received the DEQ’s notice and planned to work closely with state regulators to reach a resolution.
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.
Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the day of the week the fine was issued.
Nathan Wilk is a reporter with KLCC. This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
It is part of OPB’s broader effort to ensure that everyone in our region has access to quality journalism that informs, entertains and enriches their lives. To learn more, visit our journalism partnerships page.
