Waste Management Projects
We envision a future with a holistic waste management approach that considers the use of resources from cradle to grave. Our end goal must be zero waste.
VNEQS Appeals Coffin Butte Expansion Approval
March 2025 Release: Oregon’s Secret Climate Killers
In 2022, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality implemented new rules which regulate landfill gas emissions as a result of an executive order by Governor Brown. The DEQ’s purpose was to establish science-based greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals. Typically, landfill gas is made up of around 50% methane. Methane is a very strong greenhouse gas, more than 80 times as potent as carbon dioxide in the short-term.
In 2024, Beyond Toxics conducted an analysis of landfill operator compliance with Oregon’s new landfill methane regulations which went into effect in October 2022. We examined 32 monitoring reports submitted by eight Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) landfills out of a total of 11 MSW landfills that meet criteria to follow the new rules.
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Three out of 11 of Oregon’s large, currently operating landfills did not follow the state’s surface emissions monitoring rules in 2023, one year after the rules went into effect in 2022. As a result, three of Oregon’s largest landfills are completely unmonitored for potent methane emissions. This is important because 90% of the methane emissions produced by industries in Oregon come from its largest landfills.
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Our examination of maps submitted by the remaining eight largest MSW landfills reporting to regulators found that privately owned landfills (5 out of 8)– all owned by large corporations– on average, excluded 48.6% of the landfill surface area from monitoring for methane emissions. The high rate of exemptions calls into question how compliant landfill owner-operators are with Oregon’s laws.
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Compared to privately owned landfills, publicly owned landfills managed by local governments excluded, on average, just 10% of the surface area. The difference demonstrates significant disparities in methane emission data between privately owned landfills that are managed for profit, and publicly owned landfill operations that are managed for the benefit of local taxpayers and businesses.
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There are key gaps regarding what emissions monitoring data is required to be reported to state regulators, which leaves the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality unable to review compliance on specific rules.
Why is Waste Management An Important Issue of Concern?
Climate Justice
Whether trash is landfilled or incinerated, there are challenges in managing the production of greenhouse gasses. Incineration produces a whole lot of carbon dioxide, while decomposing organic waste in landfills produces methane, a greenhouse gas 84x more powerful than carbon dioxide.
Methane can build up at a landfill and result in massive leaks to the atmosphere. Additionally, carbon monoxide and particulates are produced when captured landfill gas is burned as fuel at a gas-to-energy facility or flare.
Air Quality
Incineration combines all of the chemicals found in waste creating new hazardous byproducts that need to be caught and mitigated rather than enter nearby community air spaces, which can pose health risks. Similarly, landfills slowly generate landfill gas, a combination of methane, carbon dioxide, and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).
Landfill gas constantly searches for a way to escape the landfill and enter the atmosphere where it can harm the climate and nearby residents' health while creating a noxious smell posing nuisance concerns.
As shown by this map, Coffin Butte Landfill in Benton County, just north of Corvallis, is one of the largest methane producing landfills in Oregon.
Leachate and Water Quality
Leachate can be thought of as garbage juice. As water travels through landfills or incineration ash, it accumulates all sorts of toxic materials along the way including heavy metals, solvents, and more.
Throughout the waste management process, water is introduced to garbage or waste byproducts, contaminating it with toxins found in the waste stream. In incinerators, water is introduced into leftover ash in order to cool the ash to manageable temperatures.
Additionally, ash from incinerators is frequently landfilled in ash monofills or in regular landfills mixed with other garbage, which results in another opportunity for leachate creation. In landfills, water is introduced to garbage, or ash, by precipitation or residual moisture from food waste and other materials.
How is Leachate Managed?
Landfill operators are required to install a leachate collection system by placing pipes along the bottom of the landfill which is lined with a plastic membrane to prevent contact with soil and groundwater. Some landfills choose to add additional protections such as a clay layer.
When the membrane rips or tears from wear over time, leachate can contaminate the groundwater and soil forming a plume. In an ideal scenario, the liner catches the leachate and pumps it into a storage “bladder” or tank.
Most landfills send their leachate to municipal wastewater treatment facilities, where it is combined with city sewage. Sewage treatment facilities are not designed to treat the highly concentrated toxins present in leachate, and consequently many of the heavy metals and PFAS pass through the treatment plant.
Read more about PFAS
This map shows leachate sources, disposal sites, and their proximity to drinking water intakes. Arrows show where each landfill's leachate is disposed. Most drinking water intakes are downstream from leachate disposal sites.
NEWS
EPA inspection uncovered methane leaks at Benton County landfill
By Nathan Wilk (KLCC) - Jan. 18, 2025
GREAT interview on OPB's Think Out Loud radio show!
Marion County’s move from incineration to landfill illustrates the problems with both methods of trash disposal, featuring an interview with Lisa Arkin, Beyond Toxics Exec. Director and Senator Sara Gelser Blouin - By Allison Frost (OPB, Think Out Loud radio)
Pressure mounts on methane-polluting Oregon landfill to clean up its act by Isobel Whitcomb, Canary Media
Coffin Butte Landfill proposed expansion raises environmental and health concerns - An interview with Isobel Whitcomb, a science and environmental reporter for Canary Media
Residents, environmental groups oppose expansion of Coffin Butte Landfill
By Julio Mora Rodriguez Aug 9, 2024 (KEZI News)
Numerous safety violations have been detected at the fast-growing landfill. It’s part of a larger pattern of problems with how the U.S. handles waste. Isobel Whitcomb, Canary Media
Benton County residents report odor and fire risks at Coffin Butte landfill
KLCC, Aug. 4, 2024
Coffin Butte Landfill workers allege safety and environmental violations
Statesman Journal, April 16, 2024
More Than Half of U.S. Landfills Are Methane ‘Super-Emitters,’ Study Finds
By: Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
Published: EcoWatch, March 29, 2024
Oregon cites Republic Services' Coffin Butte Landfill following worker complaints
Workers have been raising health and environment concerns for more than six months. The company denies the allegations - by Tracy Loew, Salem Statesman Journal
See the "Waste Management" section of our In The News page for more background.
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Resources
Beyond Toxics Summary of EPA report, "Clean Air Act Partial Compliance Evaluation Inspection Report" (PDF) | Read the full EPA report
Read more about our 2025 legislative commitments, esp. Monitoring Methane Emissions - SB 726
8 Reasons to Oppose Expanding Coffin Butte (PDF)
See Chemicals that were once common and are now banned in the U.S. (information provided by Stuart Greenleaf)
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