When Don Jensen pitched Lake County commissioners on a landfill plan last year, he didn’t have to worry about competition. “People might think what we ship most of is timber and hay, but in reality, we’re sending our kids out, because there’s nowhere for them to work,” he said. Sitting in his office in the county seat of Lakeview, Albertson pointed out a row of empty storefronts, some with windows covered in newspaper, others bearing signs that read, “I believe in Lakeview.” The county’s roughly 8,000 residents mostly rely on timber and agriculture, he said, but reductions in those industries have severely limited job opportunities for residents. Local leaders are hoping a new regional landfill can boost the area's lagging economy. “A million and a half bucks (in annual host fees), plus anything else that we can get to provide services throughout the county, is very important.”Īn empty storefront in downtown Lakeview, Oregon. “It’s extremely important,” Albertson said of the project. Lake County Commissioner Mark Albertson sees an opportunity to create local jobs in a part of Oregon starving for industry. This scale would make it the largest landfill in either Oregon or Washington. Jensen, the developer, has proposed buying about 8,000 acres, with around 1,000 of that initially permitted for the landfill. Lake County’s vision includes serving areas as nearby as neighboring Klamath and Deschutes counties, and those hundreds of miles away, like Marion County and Portland metro locales. Where there used to be more than 100 smaller landfills across Oregon, there are now only several regional facilities, Latimer said. “We will eventually be exporting most of our trash to the eastern drier parts of Oregon,” Latimer said.Īcross the state, local governments are opting to ship their garbage to several large regional landfills. That’s because of the area’s extremely wet conditions, said Shane Latimer, an environmental planner in Portland who specializes in landfill permitting for SCS Engineers. It’s been nearly 30 years since Oregon sited a new landfill, and it’s unlikely the state will ever approve another facility in the Willamette Valley, its most populous region. Environmental Protection Agency estimates at least seven landfills in Oregon will close by 2050, although exact closure dates can fluctuate. Lake County’s plan comes as landfills across Oregon are expected to close in upcoming decades, leaving many communities looking east for places to send future generations’ waste. Jensen himself has little experience siting new landfills, except for one in Idaho with a history of state violations. The public face of this group, Don Jensen of Salem, won’t disclose his financial backers. But those behind the project have yet to disclose key details about where it might be built, how many people it would employ and how it could impact the environment, even as they take steps to purchase property.Įven less has been divulged about the group of investors promising to finance - and presumably profit - from such a landfill. Lake County leaders, state officials and a private consultant held multiple closed-door meetings concerning a new regional landfill as early as January 2021. “I’d say there’s a huge lack of transparency,” Crawford said at her Christmas Valley home. The Knott Landfill, July 6, 2022, is the sole landfill in Deschutes County and is anticipated to be full by 2029, necessitating closure. This results in greater productivity from the laborers on each truck, who no longer are idle while their vehicles are off to dump the loads.Ĭhicago's municipal garbage trucks bring their refuse to Sorting Centers.But it was only a few weeks ago that she first heard of plans to build Oregon’s largest landfill somewhere among the sagebrush she calls home. Parked fully loaded at the end of the day, they are then shuttled to their dump sites by specially assigned second-shift drivers. Now, the truck crews skip their last dumping and remain longer on their routes. Previously, the garbage trucks needed to leave their alleys in time to dump their loads and return to their assigned yards by the end of each shift. The average number of living units collected daily by each garbage truck has been increased, in part due to the creation of a "night shuttle" program. Pick-ups are weekly, Mondays through Fridays. Residential Garbage produced from 600,000 households in single-family homes or apartment buildings of four units or less (others must arrange for private garbage collection).Ĭhicago collects approximately 1.1 million tons of residential garbage and recyclables annually.
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