Resources
Oregon DEQ Odor and Pollution Complaint Form
Please use this form to file an odor (or any other pollution) complaint about the landfill with the state. If your complaint is about odor, always use the term “landfill gas” as it includes methane and everything else (methane by itself is odorless).
Oregon DEQ Odor and Pollution Complaint Phone Number
If you’d rather not use the form, alternatively you can phone in your complaint. DEQ Complaint phone number: 1-888-997-7888
Leave a detailed message, including:
<> Your name, address, phone number (specify if you wish your contact info to be kept confidential, else it will be part of the public record).
<> What is the specific location of the incident? (required).
<> What kind of pollution is involved (air, soil, water, e.g.)?
<> Describe the incident in detail. If odor, describe the smell, including intensity.
<> How how long has it been going on?
<> Who is responsible for the pollution?
<> Let them know if you’d like to be contacted.
DEQ will not contact you unless they need more information, or you request to be contacted.
BENTON COUNTY RESOURCES
Benton County Board of Commissioners
Pat Malone – chair
Pat.Malone@bentoncountyor.gov
Nancy Wyse
Nancy.Wyse@bentoncountyor.gov
Gabe Shepherd
Gabe.Shepherd@bentoncountyor.gov
BOC Meetings and Events Calendar
Regular board meetings are held on the 1st, 3rd and 4th Tuesday of each month starting at 9am. You can tune in virtually or attend in person. Agendas for these meetings are generally posted online a week before the meeting, each with a link to attend virtually.
You do not need to pre-register to attend or comment. DO note that the Public Comment period is always at the very beginning of each meeting, and typically limited to 3 minutes per person, so if you want to speak you need to be prepared (we recommend you practice beforehand with a timer).
The Benton County YouTube channel has a comprehensive list of videos of past BOC meetings. These are typically posted within a few hours to a few days after the meeting.
Benton County Solid Waste Coordinator
Bailey Payne
bailey.payne@bentoncountyor.gov
541-766-6235
SWAC/DSAC
SWAC (Solid Waste Advisory Council) was dissolved by the Board of Commissioners (BOC) in Sept 2023 (although doubts remain as to the legality of that move).
DSAC (Disposal Site Advisory Committee) is the body to which community members are supposed bring their comments and complaints about the landfill.
To see when DSAC meetings are scheduled, go to the new:
Benton County Zoning Map
Benton County Development Code
Here’s the Benton County Development Code in its entirety. Relevant chapters: 23 = “Solid Waste Management”; 51 = “Development Code Administration” (includes useful definitions, info about Planning Commission); 53 = “General Review Criteria and Procedures”. See also separate chapters for Land Use Zones in and around the landfill: 55 = Exclusive Farm Use (EFU); 60 = Forest Conservation (FC); 61 = Open Space (OS); 63 = Rural Residential (RR); 77 = Landfill Site (LS). And here’s an interesting one: 99 = General Development Standards, Sensitive Land…
Benton County Comprehensive Plan
Benton County “Trash Talk” workgroup
The BCTT process was supposed to have been a “broad community discussion of all things related to solid waste” but in reality its main objective was to grease the skids for a future landfill expansion. The workgroup was not allowed to bring up or discuss any of the negative impacts of the landfill, including its impact on global climate.
The BCTT process ended in April 2023. You can access the final report here:
https://cd.bentoncountyor.gov/recycling-solid-waste/benton-county-talks-trash
LOCAL NEWS AGENCIES
Corvallis Gazette-Times/Albany Democrat-Herald
Letters to the editor (LTEs have 250 word limit), send to:
mvopinion@lee.net
Write “Letter to the Editor” in the subject line and include your name, street address and phone number (address and phone number are not published)
Penny Rosenberg, Editor
penny.rosenberg@lee.net
Salem Statesman Journal
Tracy Loew, Journalist
tloew@salem.gannett.com
Corvallis Advocate
editor@corvallisadvocate.com
OSU Daily Barometer
baro.editor@oregonstate.edu
541-737-3191
LEGISLATORS
State Legislators
State Representative Sarah Finger McDonald (House district 16)
Rep.SarahFingerMcDonald@oregonlegislature.gov
503-986-1416
State Senator Sarah Gelser Blouin (Senate district 8)
Sen.SaraGelser@oregonlegislature.gov
503-986-1708
State Attorney General
Dan Rayfield
AttorneyGeneral@doj.oregon.gov
503-378-6002
Congressional Legislators
U.S. Representative Val Hoyle (Congressional district 4)
https://hoyle.house.gov
202-225-5646
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden
https://www.wyden.senate.gov
Eugene office: 541-431-0229
DC office: 202-224-5244
U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley
https://www.merkley.senate.gov
Eugene office: 541-465-6750
DC office: 202-224-3753
Sophia Francia – Senator Merkley’s field representative in Eugene
sophia_francia@merkley.senate.gov
541-554-5726
Community Meeting Webinar: Coffin Butte Landfill and the Future of Benton County
This is a web version of the Community Meeting hosted by Beyond Toxics in August 2024 in case you missed it in person!
CopenHill
See what innovators in the UK have come up with instead of a landfill to deal with their garbage. We should start thinking like this in the US. This short video by WIRED UK is about the worlds cleanest (and most beautiful?) waste-to-energy facility in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Story of Stuff: Where does your trash end up?
“We aren’t paying landfill companies to dispose of our trash; we’re paying them to turn it into future public health hazards that we’ll end up footing the bill for.”
(Please ignore brief political jab in video.)
OTHER LINKS
LU-24-027 Public Record
https://www.bentoncountyor.gov/lu-24-027-proposed-coffin-butte-landfill-expansion/
Full Circle Future
https://www.fullcirclefuture.org/
Beyond Toxics
https://www.beyondtoxics.org/
Carbon Mapper
https://www.carbonmapper.org/
Violation Tracker
https://violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org
Letitia Carson Legacy Project
https://letitiacarson.oregonstate.edu/
https://letitiacarson.omeka.net/
Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine (useful for finding older iterations of websites and online documents)
http://web.archive.org/
EPA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) [passed Oct 1976]:
“Our nation’s primary law governing the disposal of solid and hazardous waste”
https://www.epa.gov/rcra/resource-conservation-and-recovery-act-rcra-overview
