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 Oregon Department of Environmental Quality

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Local Projects

Riverbend Landfill

For a summary of this project and current updates please visit our new overview page.

DEQ is responsible for managing three permits for the facility:

These permits contain the limits, standards, monitoring, testing, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements based upon Oregon statutes, DEQ rules, or federal rules.

Following are links to key documents related to Riverbend Landfill.

Environmental Monitoring Plan

The facility's permits require the company to monitor environmental conditions at the site in accordance with the facility's Environmental Monitoring Plan, which was prepared in 2007. This document is found in the following five links:

The facility records the results of this monitoring in an annual environmental monitoring report. The most recent of these reports is found at this link:


Leachate Management

Leachate is rainwater that percolates through the waste in a landfill. It is captured by the landfill's leachate collection system and conveyed to a storage pond prior to disposal. In 2011, 21.6 million gallons of leachate were generated at Riverbend Landfill. Approximately 11.9 million gallons were trucked to an offsite treatment facility. The remaining 9.7 million gallons were applied to a 43-acre poplar tree farm on the landfill property through a drip irrigation system. Soil and groundwater are monitored to evaluate environmental conditions at the poplar tree farm. These are documented in an annual report, the most recent of which can be found here:

Recent modifications to the monitoring plan for the poplar tree farm are summarized in the following report:


Floodplain and Flood Way Issues

There was a discrepancy regarding the location of the landfill relative to floodplain and flood way boundary, as shown on flood insurance maps issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. On May 31, 2012, Waste Management submitted a request to FEMA for a Letter of May Revision to address this discrepancy. Portions of this submittal are found here:

On December 26, 2012, FEMA issued the requested Letter of Map Revision, which indicates that the landfill is outside the floodplain and flood way boundaries. A copy of the Letter of Map Revision can be found here:

Letter of Map Revision issued by FEMA, December 26, 2012

Mechanically Stabilized Earthen Berm

Waste Management plans to build a mechanically stabilized earth berm along the west side of the landfill. The berm is an earthen wall reinforced with layers of plastic geogrid (Geogrid is a plastic sheet with openings used to reinforce soil structures). This berm would be a maximum of 40 feet high, with a steep outer face (1 horizontal to 3 vertical). It would allow an additional one million cubic yards of disposal capacity. The area of the landfill, currently 84 acres, would increase by 4 acres as a result of the new berm.

More information about the MSE berm is found in a March 2012 report, which is available at the following five links:

Applications for landfill expansions must be accompanied by a Land Use Compatibility Statement issued by the local authority which, in this case, is Yamhill County. A copy of the Land Use Compatibility Statement is here.

Review of geotechnical issues concerning the proposed MSE berm are documented in the following correspondence between the consultant for Waste Management (Geosyntec) and the consultant for DEQ (Hart Crowser). Also provided below are review documents from the consultant for opponents of the landfill (Kleinfelder).

Geosyntec documents

June 22, 2012

Sept. 26, 2012

Oct. 23, 2012

Nov. 7, 2012

Dec. 7, 2012

Dec. 26, 2012

Jan. 9, 2013

Jan. 16, 2013

Feb. 13, 2013

Hart Crowser documents

Aug. 14, 2012

Oct. 5 and Nov. 9, 2012

Dec. 18, 2012

Jan. 2, 2013

Kleinfelder documents

May 11, 2012

June 1, 2012

Oct. 25, 2012

Dec. 21, 2012

Feb. 6, 2013 

DEQ has had several discussions with the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) regarding the seismic analysis for this site. Communication between the agencies includes a January 16, 2013 letter, in which DOGAMI recommended that DEQ consider the magnitude 9.0 Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake in designs for the landfill. Following that letter, DEQ and DOGAMI met twice to discuss the seismic analysis. These discussions are summarized in a Feb. 22, 2013 letter from DEQ to DOGAMI.

A discussion of maintenance and monitoring of the mechanically stabilized earthen berm is also included in the attached document.

Construction drawings and specifications

 

Groundwater Quality

There is localized groundwater contamination, as indicated by the presence of volatile organic compounds in one groundwater monitoring well. Volatile organic compounds are of particular importance in evaluating a landfill's effects on groundwater for a couple of reasons.  They move fairly quickly through groundwater and therefore provide an early indication of a problem. Unlike other contaminants, such as metals, most volatile organic compounds do not occur in nature, so if they are detected, they are likely from the landfill. We suspect the contaminants found in this well may have been carried by landfill gas moving under the ground. Concentrations have dropped over the years, primarily because the owner has installed an extensive landfill gas removal system.

Low concentrations of volatile organic compounds have also been detected in other wells but subsequent sampling has not found the compounds in these wells. The permit requires that if a volatile organic compound is detected and is not due to sample handling or lab contamination, the well must be resampled to confirm the presence of that contaminant. Confirmation sampling has never shown the presence of volatile organic compounds in any of the wells, other than the one mentioned above.

More information regarding this is found in the attached report:

Air Quality

Inspections — EPA and the Title V operating permit program require that inspections of the facility occur at least every other year. Prior inspections of the facility have shown it to be in compliance with the Title V permit conditions. The inspection reports for 2010 and 2012 are found below:

Annual Report — The Title V operating permit requires semiannual reports by the facility certifying compliance or noncompliance with the various conditions in the permit. Annual reports containing this semiannual compliance certification as well as other operating data and annual emissions estimates are also required. The 2011 annual report is found in the following link:

Monthly Reports — As a result of citizen input and concerns during the last Title V permit renewal, the most recent Title V permit requires the facility to submit monthly reports concerning operational information, odor complaints, and odor surveys conducted around the landfill. The monthly reports for 2012 to date are shown in the following links:

Monthly reports will be posted to this website as they are received.


Stormwater

Stormwater Pollution Control Plans — As part of the NPDES 1200-Z Stormwater Permit requirements, facilities are required to submit a stormwater pollution control plan. If changes are made onsite to best management practices or other aspects of the stormwater system, updates to the plan are required to be submitted to DEQ.  The following links are the plan, along with any revisions that have been submitted to DEQ:

Discharge Monitoring Reports — Facilities are required to sample stormwater four times per year under the 1200-Z permit.  Riverbend is required to analyze these samples for copper, lead, zinc, pH, total suspended solids and grease, and e.coli. The results from these sampling events are reported on discharge monitoring reports and submitted to DEQ by July 31 of each year. The following links are the reports from Riverbend Landfill:

Action Plans — If any sample results are above benchmarks established in the permit, facilities are required to review their stormwater pollution control plan and submit an action plan to DEQ explaining the benchmark exceedance, as well as corrective actions to meet benchmarks.  Action plans are also submitted when there is a change to the stormwater pollution control plan.  The following links are action plans submitted by Riverbend Landfill:

Future stormwater plans and discharge monitoring reports will be posted as they are received.


Other Issues

Boring Logs — Numerous studies of hydrogeologic conditions have been conducted by Waste Management's consultants.  These are based on boring logs that are recorded each time a well or piezometer is drilled. Monitoring wells are used to draw water samples for lab analysis, and to measure the elevation of the groundwater surface. These logs are provided at the following three links:

Elevations of groundwater relative to bottom of waste — Waste Management's consultant prepared a report in November 2012 that assesses groundwater elevations relative to the elevation of the bottom of waste at the landfill. During periods of high groundwater, the elevation of groundwater is higher than the bottom of waste in portions of the landfill. It is important to note that the waste lies above a liner that prevents the escape of contaminants. The liner system has become increasingly substantial as new sections of the landfill have been built, to provide a more effective barrier between waste and groundwater.  Descriptions of the liner system used as this landfill are presented in this report, which can be found here:

Potential for migration of the South Yamhill River — Residents have expressed concern about the potential for the South Yamhill River to migrate over time, because it could therefore move closer to the landfill. This issue was evaluated in a September 2012 report by Waterways Consulting, Inc. The report concludes that the river has not migrated in this direction substantially in the past. Among the factors considered, the report points to the presence of 3,000-year-old Native American artifacts found in the land between the river and the landfill. A copy of this report is found here:

Closure and post-closure financing — Landfills are required to set aside funds sufficient for proper closure of the landfill and 30 years of post-closure maintenance and monitoring. Estimates of the necessary funding must be revised every year.  The current closure plans are provided in this document:

Financial assurance documents are provide here:


Facility Drawings

Topographic Maps — Landfill contours are documented using aerial photography every year. The most recent topographic map, created in April 2012, is found here:

Expansion of Landfill Gas Management System — The landfill gas management system was expanded in 2012. Construction drawings are found here:

Recent cell construction - The most recent landfill cell was 8D, built in 2009. Construction drawings are found here:

Contact Information

Bob Schwarz: 541-298-7255 ext. 230, toll free at 800-452-4011, or by email
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DEQ Northwest Region
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Phone: 503-229-5263, FAX: 503-229-6945

Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
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