Landfill companies made gains in permit proceedings over the last month. Republic’s long-running campaign to expand the Coffin Butte Landfill in Oregon earned an approval. Meanwhile, Ohio state regulators continued to side with Win Waste rather than local officials over a dispute.

Other expansions and legal issues arose from the sector in recent weeks. Below is a selection of landfill news from the past month.

Republic Services earns county approval for Coffin Butte Landfill expansion

The board of county commissioners in Benton County, Oregon, voted to approve an expansion of Republic Services' Coffin Butte Landfill following a contentious public review process, the Salem Statesman Journal reported last week. Republic has made multiple attempts to expand the landfill, which has been a critical part of the disposal infrastructure of the more populous western portion of the state for decades.

The landfill currently accepts 1.1 million tons of waste annually from Benton County and neighboring Marion County, and it has 178 acres of land currently permitted for landfill disposal. An expansion would add 59 acres of surface area, according to the planning commission’s report.

The county board has added about three dozen conditions for approval of the permit during the review process, some of which were proposed at the Nov. 4 meeting. They include new requirements regarding litter control and ensuring Republic pays the county the wages and benefits of a full-time county employee to monitor environmental conditions around the landfill. 

A final written copy of the board's decision is scheduled to be published on Monday. After that, landfill expansion opponents have three weeks to appeal the decision to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals. The process can further be sent to the Oregon Court of Appeals after that, the Statesman Journal reported.

Republic previously tried to permit an expansion twice as large as its current proposal, but was denied. The current application reached the county board after Benton County's Planning Commission initially voted to deny Republic's application in July over concerns about odor, groundwater contamination, air quality, traffic and other issues.

Win Waste gets assist from Ohio review panel in landfill operation

The Ohio Environmental Review Appeals Commission, a state entity, determined that conditions imposed on Win Waste's permit for its Fostoria landfill facility are unlawful, and sent the permit back to the local health district for revisions, WTOL reported. Win Waste has been in the process of adding 94 acres to the site, but has been challenged by neighbors who have complained about alleged environmental violations at the site.

The Seneca County General Health District imposed about two dozen special conditions on Win Waste’s permit, many of which the company argued were unlawful or unreasonable. That included a condition requiring Win Waste to repair any ponding, erosion or leachate outbreaks within three hours of discovery and a condition that Win Waste not operate the landfill "in a manner that emits odors that endanger the health, safety, or welfare of the public, or causes unreasonable injury or damage to property."

The commission found such conditions unreasonable and outside the scope of the health district's authority, (cut:respectively).

The landfill was formerly operated by Tunnel Hill Partners before that company was rolled up by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets with others to form Win Waste in 2021. The facility has been targeted by public officials in the state in recent years. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine in July signed a bill that allowed local health districts to raise C&D waste tipping fees in a move that could increase the cost of business for Win Waste's facility. 

And the Seneca County Board of Health has expressed (cut: been vocal in its) opposition to the landfill's continued operation, attempting to deny the facility's permit in December. The Ohio EPA, by contrast, approved a permit for the facility's expansion in September.

The landfill was the subject of more than 100 inspections last year. Win Waste has previously touted a $54 million gas treatment system which it says helped eliminate landfill odors.

Other permitting, expansion and labor news:

• Republic Services is asking a judge to dismiss a legal challenge brought by AFL-CIO Local 150 over the company’s dismissal of three employees at the Lake County C&D Landfill in Indiana. The union's petition for reinstatement had previously been thrown out by an arbitrator over a procedural issue, leading AFL-CIO to seek the judge's intervention in June. (Law360) 
• WM filed an application to significantly expand its Chastang Landfill in Mobile County, Alabama. The company is looking to increase its permitted capacity from 1,725 tons per day to 5,000 tons per day, but faces opposition from the local solid waste department. (AL.com)
• Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection gave the privately-owned Keystone Sanitary Landfill a 15-month extension of its operating permit last month. The extension will allow agency staff to review recently installed odor control measures at the site as it considers renewing the landfill's long-term operating permit. (Waste Today)
• Local officials in two counties are urging Maryland regulators to deny the private Days Cove Rubble Landfill's request to double the amount of wastewater it discharges into waterways. The facility operates on land leased from the Maryland Department of the Environment and includes both closed and active cells. (WYPR and Nottingham MD)