Coffin Butte Landfill

Current status

The Benton County Board of Commissioners has announced a public hearing to reconsider its decision approving an application to expand the Coffin Butte Landfill. The Hearing on Reconsideration will be held Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 11:00 a.m. in the Holmes & Shipley meeting room, 4500 SW Research Way in Corvallis.

LU-24-027 Public Record

Timeline

Dec. 5, 2025
Attorney representing Petitioners files a notice of intent to appeal with LUBA. Benton County has 21 days to deliver LU-24-027 Public Record to LUBA (Dec. 26). The County also has the option of withdrawing the prior decision before the record is delivered to LUBA.

Dec. 16, 2025
Commissioner Wyse makes a motion to withdraw the Board of Commissioner’s decision for reconsideration and put the matter on the Jan. 6 meeting agenda. Commissioner Malone seconds the motion, which carries 3-0.

Dec. 16, 2025
Counsel files notice of withdrawal with LUBA. This action returns jurisdiction of the case to the local government body for 90 days.

Jan. 6, 2026
In a regular meeting, the Board of Commissioners discusses the reconsideration timeline and the path forward.

Jan. 14, 2026
Agenda and meeting packet for Jan. 20 meeting published to the Board of Commissioners Meeting Portal.

Jan. 20, 2026, 11 a.m.
Public hearing to reconsider the BOC decision.

The County’s planning official will present new evidence that became available after the Board of Commissioners reached its decision on Nov. 4, 2025.
The Board will determine the manner and timeframe in which the public can submit testimony responding to the new evidence and a rebuttal period for the applicant.
The Board can continue the hearing to a future date for deliberations and decision.

TBA

Deadline for submission of public testimony
Deadline for rebuttal by applicant
Date for continued public hearing for deliberations and decision

FAQ

Why is the Board of Commissioners talking about the landfill again?

At the beginning of the regular Board of Commissioners meeting on December 16, Commissioner Wyse proposed an addition to the published agenda to discuss something related to land use. At the conclusion of the business on the published agenda, she shared her addition: a motion to withdraw for reconsideration the Board’s decision to approve LU-24-027, the proposed expansion of the Coffin Butte Landfill.

The BOC decision was finalized on Nov. 17 and legal notice was made on Nov. 18. On December 5, 2025, a notice of intent to appeal the decision was filed with the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals, or LUBA.

When a local land use decision is being appealed to LUBA, the deciding body — in this case, the Benton County Board of Commissioners — has the option to withdraw the decision for reconsideration by filing a notice of withdrawal within 21 days of the filing of the notice of intent to appeal. This action returns jurisdiction of the land use case to the local government body for 90 days. This means any action carried out by the Board of Commissioners would need to happen before March 16.

Motion (from Meeting Summary):
Wyse moved to withdraw the Board of Commissioners’ decision in LU-24- 027 for consideration by the Board at a later date, and to authorize County Counsel to file a notice of withdrawal of the decision for reconsideration with the Land Use Board of Appeals, and direct staff to place an item on the agenda for the regular meeting on January 6, 2026 regarding a reconsideration of the decision. Malone seconded the motion, which carried 3-0.

An attorney for the County filed the notice of withdrawal with LUBA on Dec. 16, 2025.

What does “reconsideration” mean?

The Board of Commissioners has retaken jurisdiction of the case and can decide, with guidance from counsel, how to proceed over the allowed 90 days.

Reconsideration can include (at the Board’s discretion) reopening the public record to accept new evidence. If new evidence is admitted to the record, the public and the applicant must have an opportunity to respond

Reconsideration must result in adoption of a written decision that is forwarded to LUBA within 90 days of the date of the notice of withdrawal.

Why did the Commissioners withdraw their decision?

The County doesn’t have that information. Because the Commissioners can only converse about business in public meetings, County staff and the other Commissioners were not aware of Commissioner Wyse’s intention to move to withdraw the previous decision for reconsideration.

In a work session in the January 6 meeting, the Board of Commissioners discussed the process of reconsideration and next steps.

The next time the decision can be discussed is in the public hearing on January 20, 2026.

When/how can I tell the Commissioners how I feel about this?

Now that jurisdiction of the landfill land use case is back with the BOC, ex parte communication rules prevent the Commissioners from engaging in communication about it outside of a public hearing that has been noticed.

Public comment delivered in a regular Board of Commissioners meeting cannot be considered by the Commissioners as it is not part of the public record. The public record remains closed.

Should the Board decide to re-open the public record, this will be noticed to all interested parties and via the County’s communication channels.

What is the County’s plan?

This action wasn’t planned by the County or the Board of Commissioners. Commissioner Wyse alone made the motion. Commissioners Shepherd and Malone did not know in advance about the motion because commissioners may only discuss business in public meetings. In the best interest of the public they serve, Oregon law prevents commissioners from having private conversations because two decision-makers make a quorum — a body with the potential to make binding decisions behind closed doors — in a county with three commissioners.

Oregon law and ex parte communication rules prevent the Board of Commissioners and County staff from discussing the landfill land use case prior to the public hearing on Jan. 20, 2026. Legal notice of the hearing was made on Jan. 6.

Written testimony

Written testimony about the landfill is not being accepted at this time as the land use public record remains closed.

About the Landfill

Coffin Butte Landfill in Benton County takes in waste from several counties in the mid-Willamette Valley and Oregon Coast.

History

The landfill was created in the1940s by the U.S. Army for waste disposal from the former Camp Adair. It was expanded and designated a regional landfill under the 1974 Chemeketa Region Solid Waste Management Program, a cooperative effort between Benton, Linn, Marion, Yamhill and Polk Counties. Valley Landfills, Inc., purchased it in 1975 for use as a municipal landfill. Republic Services, Inc. become the parent company of the landfill in a 2008 merger.

For more historical background see this detailed landfill timeline.

Size and Development

The landfill site comprises 740 acres. Of that, only 178 acres are permitted for waste disposal (including the quarry). The site includes 40 acres of wetlands and 556 acres dedicated to preservation and non-landfill operations.

Regulation

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) manages three permits for the facility that regulate air, land and water quality. Renewal of the Title V air quality permit is in process. (updated 4/30/25) Learn more >

Benton County regulates land use and building for the facility.

Understanding the Decision Process

Benton County Land Use Application Process Download

Conditional Use Basics from Benton County Code

In accordance with Benton County Code 51.535, once an application moves forward to the decision process the County has 150 days to determine if the proposed use of the land meets criteria outlined in County Code.

Applicants are allowed to request up to 215 additional days for this process, for a total of 365. This can come as multiple requests throughout the process, so the end date can change multiple times during the process.

53.215 – Criteria

The decision to approve a conditional use permit shall be based on findings that:
(1) The proposed use does not seriously interfere with uses on adjacent property, with the character of the area, or with the purpose of the zone;
(2) The proposed use does not impose an undue burden on any public improvements, facilities, utilities, or services available to the area; and
(3) The proposed use complies with any additional criteria which may be required for the specific use by this code. [Ord. 90-0069]

53.220 – Conditions of Approval

Conditions may address, but are not limited to:
(1) Size & location of site.
(2) Road capacities in the area.
(3) Number & location of road access points.
(4) Location & amount of off-street parking.
(5) Internal traffic circulation.
(6) Fencing, screening & landscape
(7) Height & square footage of building.
(8) Signs.
(9) Exterior lighting.
(10) Noise, vibration, air pollution, & other environmental influences.
(11) Water supply & sewage disposal.
(12) Law enforcement & fire protection.
[Ord. 26; Ord. 90-0069]

Background: Benton County Talks Trash (BCTT)

Following a pair of conflicting 2021 decisions from its appointed solid waste and land use bodies, and in response to substantial community concern over a proposed landfill expansion, the Board of County Commissioners asked Oregon Consensus to help understand the situation and identify, if possible, a constructive path forward on solid waste and disposal, including at the Coffin Butte Landfill. Following the Board’s direction, a third-party facilitation team helped convene a community member-based Workgroup representing a diverse balance of perspectives and established a Charter and Bylaws to guide the work.

Dubbed “Benton County Talks Trash,” the workgroup was tasked with building “common understandings” around key topics and outlining the table of contents for a modern, long-term Sustainable Materials Management Plan. To complete these tasks, the workgroup established five subcommittees to dive into specific topic areas and then report back:

Developing a Sustainable Materials Management Plan (SMMP)
Estimating the Landfill Size, Capacity and Longevity
Clarifying legal issues and reviewing land use law
Determining the status of past land use Conditions of Approval
Improving Community Education and Outreach

Learn more about BCTT >