For Immediate Release Local farmer goes on Hunger Strike to protest DEQ - Riverbend Landfill expansion plan.
April 02, 2013 RAMSEY McPHILLIPS, a McMinnville resident and a member of one of Oregon’s oldest pioneer families begins a hunger strike to protest the expansion of Riverbend Landfill in McMinnville, Oregon. “If all State agencies agree that Riverbend Landfill would never be sited today - on prime farmland in a floodplain on the bank of a river - then why is Waste Management getting the green light to grow even closer to the river, gobble up our most fertile farmland, and double in size?” Ramsey McPhillips, fifth generation Oregon farmer whose decade-long fight to stop the importation of trash to a leaking regional riverbank landfill upriver from his family’s 150 year old Yamhill County farm, begins a hunger strike protest today (April 2, 2013.) Mr. McPhillips says the aim of his protest is to stop the garbage business giant, Waste Management of Texas, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission (EQC) from doubling the size of the landfill. Mr. McPhillips belongs to a coalition of non-profit organizations, farmers, vintners, public officials, land stewards, river keepers, tribal groups and businesses that oppose any further expansion of Riverbend Landfill. The 10 million ton plus landfill is nearly full, covering 110 acres of prime farmland, sitting 18 stories tall, and leaking. Riverbend Landfill is a regional landfill owned and operated by the multi-national corporation, Waste Management. The facility is situated on Oregon’s most fertile farmland and the floodplain of the Yamhill River, approximately 40 miles southwest of Portland, Oregon. Currently the dump is scheduled to close in 2014. But Waste Management now wants to extend the contract another 20 to 30 years, double the footprint of the landfill, dump closer to the river, and pile the garbage even higher. DEQ is strongly considering allowing this to happen. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has announced that it has granted preliminary authorization for Riverbend to build a Mechanically Stabilized Earthen Berm around the existing western side of the landfill, and it is this authorization which has prompted McPhillips to stop eating. McPhillips contends that the landfill has already caused too much harm to the local economy and the area residents’ quality of life, and that the potential harm to the aquifer, river, salmon migrations, and local economy from too much imported trash is reason enough for the EQC/DEQ to deny the landfill’s request to expand. Press Release Pg.2
Mr. McPhillips points out that Waste Management, DEQ, EQC and the landfill’s largest client, Portland Metro (41% of Riverbend’s annual fill is imported from Metro) all agreed in 1989 not to build any regional landfills on the west side of the Cascades for the very same reasons he has gone on his strike... to prevent farmland destruction, risk to the water table and potential economic ruin from the threats from large earthquakes and landslides. The 1989 EQC decision to not site a new regional landfill in the Willamette Valley was under the direction of then Governor John Kitzhaber. This resulted in the formation of Oregon’s landfill alley situated in the arid desert outside of Arlington where trash disposal is the bedrock of that economy and poses no real threat to the environment or agrarian economy. Avoiding landfills on farmland and wetlands in the valley, and transporting it to the better suited eastern Oregon was Waste Management’s position BEFORE they bought Riverbend landfill. Mr. McPhillips has chosen to stop eating to draw attention to the environmental calamity of expanding the landfill, which will be decided upon by DEQ over the next two weeks. A daily video diary of Mr. McPhillips’ hunger strike can be seen on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/StopRiverbend The online Stop Riverbend Community can be found at at: https://www.facebook.com/stopriverbendlandfill http://www.stopthedumpcoalition.org. Immediate Action Notice: Friday, April 5th is the final day that comments disputing the expansion of the dump can be submitted for public record. Public comments can be made online at: http://www.deq.state.or.us/nwr/ RiverbendLandfillFeedback.asp Mr. McPhillips has asked that others join in his protest by contacting the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to tell them to not allow Waste Management to build out their facility beyond its current scheduled capacity conclusion in 2014. Area residents interested in communicating thier opinions to DEQ can do so by either calling Mr. Bob Schwarz: 541-298-7255 ext. 230, or sendin him an email at schwarz.bob@deq.state.or.us Ramsey McPhillips contact information: McPhillipsfarms@gmail.com Additional footage and image available to media: jeff@dukejoseph.com 503.550.4272 Thank you.