A special program designed to provide information on issues related to Coffin Butte Landfill is set for 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28 at the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, organizers announced.
The discussion, entitled “What’s Up with Coffin Butte Landfill? Shining a Light on the Issues” is being sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Corvallis.
The program comes on the heels of the conclusion of the Benton County Talks Trash public work group process, which involved issues that included the landfill’s history, land use, legal issues, the future of solid waste and development of a long-term plan.
“The goal of the program is to provide a basic overview of the work group’s process and an opportunity to identify community concerns, as well as to outline Benton County’s future plans for waste management,” the League of Women Voters said through a press release. “Please note that this program will not be about landfill expansion.”
The league invited six community members who served on one of the five Benton County Talks Trash’s subcommittees to share their perspectives — Catherine Biscoe (introduction), Mark Yeager (Coffin Butte Landfill history), Paul Nietfeld (landfill size, capacity and longevity), Ed Pitera (past land-use conditions), John Deuel (sustainable materials management plan) and Mary Parmigiani (community education and public outreach).
The landfill has been in use in some form since World War II in the Coffin Butte vicinity of northern Benton County. According to the county, the site has changed and grown over time and has not adopted a plan for managing it over the decades.