Inert Landfill in Southwest Oregon Set to Close

Approval of a permit to close down the Rogue River Woodwaste Landfill in Rogue River, Ore., could come by early November, according to the State of Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

The DEQ received Rogue River Holding LLC’s application for the closure permit earlier this year and issued a notice to the public on Oct. 1.

The Rogue River site – a subsidiary of Oregon Panel Products LLC – has been in operation since 1979 and currently stores nearly 220,000 cubic yards of logging industry and other debris, says Zach Loboy, environmental specialist with the DEQ.

Loboy says the site is responding to increasing regulations from the DEQ that encourages logging companies to find other ways to dispose of their excess materials since landfills like the one at Rogue River can degrade ground water quality.

One way companies can be more environmentally friendly is by paving logging decks, which decreases contaminants in the leftover bark, making it easier to recycle, Loboy says.

The material currently stored at the Rogue River landfill will be screened, and once separated from rocks and dirt, it will be reused offsite and sold to local landscaping companies, Loboy says.

The rocks that are cleaned out can be bought by logging companies to be reused on log decks.

The permit is good for 10 years, but Loboy says if everything stays on schedule, the landfill will be emptied and closed down by the end of next summer. 

The DEQ requested comments on the proposed permit from the public, but Loboy says the department has not received very many. “People are usually more concerned when a landfill goes in, not when it comes out,” he says.

The current plan is to reseed the land and allow it to return to its natural state, says Loboy.