Potential landfill sites in Deschutes County

Deschutes County’s solid waste department has identified 13 potential sites for a new landfill, as the current Knott Landfill in southeast Bend is expected to reach capacity in 2029.

It’s a once in a lifetime project. Knott Landfill has been used as a county dump since 1972. The new landfill site, once selected, is projected to serve the county for roughly 100 years.

While the newly identified 13 potential sites indicate progress in the county’s solid waste management plan, which was adopted in 2019, the process for creating a new landfill is far from over, said Chad Centola, the county’s solid waste director.

The list will be narrowed even further in the springtime to three to five possible new sites, Centola said.

“At the start of this we looked at every nook and cranny of the county,” he said.

The 13 sites, which are mostly located in the southeastern portion of Deschutes County, underwent an intensive screening process. The solid waste department considered natural habitats, threatened and endangered species populations, environmental concerns and the possibility for cultural concerns such as archaeological sites.

A few of the potential sites are near Bend, but most are farther out, the farthest nearly 70 miles away near the unincorporated community of Hampton. A few of the potential sites are on federal land. Two are county-owned land, and two are on state-owned land. But most of the potential sites are on private land, Centola said, including one on Central Oregon Irrigation District property.

Spencer Stauffer, the land use technician for the irrigation district, told The Bulletin in an email the management team hadn’t had a chance to fully review the county’s proposal yet.

Funding for the development of a new landfill will come from landfill fees paid by customers, Centola said. If someone generates garbage, the money paid to dispose of that garbage goes toward funding landfill operations, he said.

Once Knott reaches capacity, it will not cease to exist. The waste facilities built there in 2007 will remain, and it will act as a transfer station so people won’t have to drive an indeterminate distance to dispose of their waste, Centola said.

Property owners located adjacent to the new sites were given notice before the county’s announcement. Centola said he has already heard some feedback. Once a shortlist of three to five sites is identified in March, the county will begin a more intensive process evaluating those sites. Then, once a single site is identified, a formal public hearing process will ensue.

Centola said the possibility of transferring waste to a regional facility near the Columbia Gorge was considered. However, a new landfill within the county proved to be far more advantageous.

The emissions that would be created by transporting outside the county were a major factor, Centola said. Trucks would have to drive over two million miles a year if the landfill was outside the county, compared to 350,000 miles a year to a landfill within the county.

“It was determined that instead of sending many, many trucks a day 150-200 miles away, it’s going to be a lot more valuable to be doing it here locally for the environment, for the cost of the system, for the long term costs,” said Deschutes County Commissioner Tony DeBone.

Between 73% and 93% of Deschutes County residents were in favor of creating a new landfill within the county instead of outside of it, according to county documents.

“It’s not just a landfill. It’s not just a hole in the ground for disposal. Big picture, it’s recycling, separation, construction waste, possible energy production — just whatever we can do. It’s not just putting waste in the ground,” DeBone said.

The Solid Waste Advisory Committee will meet to discuss the new sites at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, virtually and in-person at the Deschutes County Road Department at 61150 SE 27th St. in Bend.