STOP expansion of the
Coffin Butte Landfill
The Coffin Butte Landfill is not smart, clean, reliable or safe. It is already polluting air and water and violating environmental laws.
Making it larger will only make all this worse.
WE NEED A PARADIGM SHIFT.
Here are the facts.
“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.”
• The landfill is NOT OWNED, OPERATED OR CONTROLLED by Benton County.
• The landfill is owned and operated by Republic Services, the second largest waste management company in the United States. And they want to expand it.
• The landfill is controlled by Republic Services from their corporate headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona – THAT IS NOT LOCAL CONTROL.
A NEW landfill would likely NEVER be permitted in this region today; why then is it okay to EXPAND one here? IT’S NOT. It’s a loophole. The EPA, DEQ and Benton County are not cracking down on this massive industrial operation. With little to no oversight, Republic Services gets away with impunity.
• This is NOT just A LOCAL ISSUE, and NOT something the public gets to vote on — it is NOT decided in an election.
• This dump will be an Environmental LIABILITY for generations to come.
• It will also be a long-term Financial LIABILITY.
• Fully one-third of all the garbage in Western Oregon comes to this dump.
• It is an un-planned, accidental, terrible location for a landfill.
• “Dump days” (when the stink is so bad it drives people indoors) are a regular occurrence.
• In our opinion, Republic Services is a bad actor.
• If ANY expansion is approved, that opens the door to this becoming a “forever” landfill.
In summary: We need a paradigm shift. Landfilling is the worst disposal option. Unfortunately, it is also the status quo. Humans will continue to landfill garbage as long as landfilling is easy and cheap. Alternatives to landfilling will not be seriously considered until that changes. So FIRST we must STOP the expansion, in order to force the conversation in the right direction. This is not easy, but it is THE RIGHT THING TO DO. For everyone’s future.
LATEST EXPANSION NEWS
October 12, 2026
Republic Services employs strategy of endless legal wrangling in attempt to overturn Commissioner's denial decision
In light of the DEQ enforcement action and Republic’s air quality violations, it will be extremely difficult for Republic to argue that the County did not have sufficient reason to deny the expansion, so instead they are resorting to tactics of endless legal wrangling (Predatory Delay).
In July, for example, Republic filed a new motion with LUBA (Land Use Board of Appeals) to “take evidence not in the record,” alleging collusion in the County process that eventually led to the denial of the application – an absurd notion.
When Republic submitted their Notice of Intent to Appeal the BOC’s denial decision to LUBA back in March, VNEQS, Sierra Club, Mid-Willamette Bird Alliance and a small group of individuals all “intervened” on the County’s behalf to bolster their “denial” position, but that is now on hold, as nothing can proceed until LUBA rules on Republic’s motion to take new evidence.
We’ll update this space when we have new information.
Don’t take down your STOP the Expansion yard signs! (Click here if you want one.) And keep the conversation going. This is not over.
"Trash Town USA" DOCUMENTARY
*** If you missed the Darkside Cinema premier of the short documentary about our grassroots battle against the landfill expansion and hope for the future – you can now watch it here: Trash Town USA ***