Benton County, Oregon, approves Coffin Butte landfill expansion

The Benton County Board of Commissioners has approved a proposal from Republic Services Inc. to expand its Coffin Butte Landfill in Corvallis, Oregon.

However, opponents can appeal to the state within 21 days of the final written decision being adopted and made public Nov. 17. The board met Nov. 4 for deliberations and approved the application by a 2-1 vote with some modifications to the conditions of approval.

The decision paves the way for Phoenix-based Republic Services to implement an expansion it’s been lobbying for since 2021, so long as it meets 34 conditions laid out by the board. The application for the proposed expansion came before the Board of Commissioners after Republic Services appealed the County Planning Commission’s July decision to deny the application.

According to a staff report filed by Benton County on Oct. 15, the proposal includes a 1,800-square-foot employee building with off-street parking, modifying an access road, relocating leachate activities, construction of a shop and maintenance area and modifying access roads north of Coffin Butte Road, among others.

The current proposal is 50 percent smaller than the original plan in 2021. The firm says the plan calls for “continuous, reliable and affordable disposal capacity while the county aligns on a solid materials management plan.”

Other items outlined by Republic Services include improving Coffin Butte Road, increasing transparency and responsiveness, improving vegetative screening along major travel corridors and containing the landfill’s working face and disposal area to the landfill site zone.