Coffin Butte Expansion
The following is the letter that the Friends of Polk County sent to the Benton County Planning Commission. Although the Coffin Butte landfill is in Benton County, the landfill significantly affects nearby Polk County and the Willamette Valley. Coffin Butte currently takes most of Marion and Polk counties’ municipal waste, including waste that previously went to the Reworld Marion incinerator in Brooks.
TO: Benton County Planning Commission April 14, 2025
RE: CUP for Coffin Butte expansion
Friends of Polk County is a local citizen group that seeks to promote wise management of farm and forest land, a high level of livability in our urban and rural communities and a strong resource-based economy. Polk County lies adjacent to Benton County and we have growing concerns about the negative impacts of the Coffin Butte Landfill on Willamette Valley. As Coffin Butte has been accepting dramatically more waste since 2017, the trash along Highway 99W, the methane emissions and the pervasive odor particularly have all reached unacceptable levels.
Republic Services has not effectively dealt with these problems.
We urge you to vote against expansion of the Coffin Butte landfill for the following reasons:
(1) The landfill is not suitable for the “character” of the region. Benton County prides itself as providing an inviting and environmentally conscious environment. The Coffin Butte trash and odor detract significantly from this image. Benton County purports to provide a healthy environment for its citizens. The methane emissions found by EPA and Carbon Mapper indicate violations of the maximum levels allowed.
(2) Approval of an expansion would remove the current cap on tonnage of solid waste allowed per year. The landfill is currently causing problems. An expansion and removal of a cap on allowed tonnage per year would further increase the current problems.
(3) On January 16 the EPA’s enforcement division served an Information Request on Coffin Butte Landfill. The registered agent for Republic Services forwarded this request to the legal department at Republic Services in Phoenix on January 21. The cover letter describes that this is a subpoena for business records for the legal process “United States Environmental Protection Agency vs. Republic Services”. It would be prudent to delay any expansion of the landfill until this potential lawsuit is resolved.
We urge the Planning Commission to deny this application for expansion until the current issues are resolved.
For more information on the Coffin Butte expansion:
Valley Neighbors for Environmental Quality and Safety (VENEQS). Visit their website:
