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Who Are We?

Benton County, Oregon

by Gregg Shetterly

I. Geography

General Statistics

Located in the mid-Willamette Valley, Benton County has varied geography, ranging from the lowland agricultural acreages in the eastern portion, to the forested hills and mountains of the Coast Range to the west.   With a total land area of 681 square miles, Benton County is geographically, one of the smallest counties in the state.  

Since most of the land area is forested, 387.1 square miles (56.7%) is zoned "Primary Forest," while 200.7 square miles (29.4%) is zoned for agricultural uses.   With these two designations of land-use comprising nearly all of the county area, areas zoned "Urban" make up most of the remaining land at 35.9 square miles (5.2%).

Ownership

While the majority of Benton County is forested, the United States Forest Service has ownership of only 4% of the total county land area.   The only other federal agency that owns a relatively large portion of the county is the Bureau of Land Management, with ownership of 14% of the county.   The majority of the rest of the land is divided among private investors, who collectively own 76% of the land, and the state, which owns 5%.   The remaining 2% of the county ownership is identified by "Other," presumably referring to other government agencies such as the Department of Transportation.

Major Cities

            Within Benton County, the largest incorporated city by far is Corvallis, with a population of 49,332, or 62.1% of the total county population.   Aside from Corvallis, the only other incorporated cities are Adair Village, Monroe, North Albany, and Philomath.

Authorized Waste Disposal Sites

            Benton County has available two sites for disposal of trash.   While it is by far the smaller of the two, Monroe Transfer Station, located in the town of Monroe, is an important waste disposal site for rural residents of the county.   This site accepts recyclable material as well as solid waste.  

Located near the northern border of the county and just west of Highway 99, Coffin Butte Landfill is the second largest in the state.   According to Benton County's Comprehensive Plan, Coffin Butte is required operate as a regional landfill, accepting waste from surrounding counties, including Linn, Polk and Benton.   Coffin Butte also often receives waste from Lane County likely due to a less expensive fee structure.  

Aside from operating as a landfill, Coffin Butte also produces energy through methane collection.   Through energy from biomass, "... the Coffin Butte Research Project produces approximately 2.4 megawatts of electricity per year, enough to power 2,000 homes ."  

Both of these disposal sites are located in the eastern portion of the county, leaving the western side without a transfer station at a near distance.   Because of this, waste disposal could potentially be an issue for western rural residents of Benton County.   For example, the town of Alsea is located in the southwest corner of the county, and is one of the cities furthest away from a disposal site.   For a citizen of Alsea, Coffin Butte Landfill is about thirty miles away, while the Monroe Transfer Station is at least twenty miles away.

II. Demographics

General Statistics

            The demographics of Benton County, the eleventh-most populated county in the state, are generally very similar to national demographic statistics.   Interestingly, while only 5% of the county is officially designated urban, 52,086 people, or 65.7% of the total county population live within these areas.   The remaining 16,873 people are either rural residents, or residents of unincorporated towns.   The large number of urban residents in such a comparatively small percentage of the county is likely the result of a large population of Oregon State University students and faculty living in and around Corvallis.

Education

            Just as the presence of Oregon State University weighs heavily on general demographic statistics, it also affects educational statistics.   Nearly half of the county ages 25 years and older have earned at least Bachelor's degrees.   This statistic undoubtedly reflects the recent OSU graduates as well as current faculty and graduate students.

Employment

            Although private owners hold nearly three-quarters of the land area of Benton County, and 56.7% is zoned for forestry purposes, only 1.7% of the county is employed by forestry-related occupations.   This low level of forestry employment in such a largely privately owned and forested county could be attributable to a number of factors.   However, it should be noted that while there is a high percentage of land designated for forestry purposes, because Benton County is so geographically small, the actual amount of viable forestry land might not be large enough to employ a larger constituency of forestry-related jobs.

Industry

Again, as in nearly every other demographic statistic, industry in Benton County is heavily influenced by the presence of Oregon State University.   The highest percentage of the employed population - 31.1% - are involved in educational, health and social services.   Manufacturing, the industry with the next highest activity in the county, is likely this active due to the presence of the Hewlett-Packard factory located in Corvallis.

III. Dumping Specifics

County Garbage Management Policies

            In Benton County, the county is not responsible for providing garbage service.   Rather, the service is franchised out to Valley Landfills Inc.   This company owns both the Coffin Butte Landfill in northern Benton County, as well as the Monroe Transfer Station to the south.   According to the Benton County Comprehensive Plan, Valley Landfills is required to pay a franchise fee of $51,000-52,000 to the county, part of which "...should be used for educational and promotional programs on waste reduction and recycling, emphasizing methods in which individuals and businesses can reduce, redirect, or utilize recoverable materials whose present destination is the landfill."

            The Solid Waste Advisory Council (SWAC), a group that serves as an advisory board to the County Board of Commissioners, oversees all issues involving solid waste disposal in the county.   This organization has a total of eight members, comprising of three representatives from the City of Corvallis, two rotating representatives from other incorporated cities in the county, and three representatives from unincorporated cities.

            The Solid Waste Advisory Council is also responsible for approving any changes to the fee structures put in place by the hauling companies.   Although hauling companies have the authority to set their own fee structures, they must come before SWAC to have it approved.   According to Gordon Brown, a staff member for the Solid Waste Advisory Council and Senior Environmental Health Specialist at the county health department, "We have a rate-review process.   Haulers come to us with a fee structure, and we generally approve it."   Most recently, the fee structure had been altered in June at the request of Valley Landfills Inc.  

Prior to this summer's fee alteration, the rates had remained stagnant for five years.   Interestingly, members of SWAC expressed concern that "...more folks living in rural areas might start dumping on land, instead of paying for an increase in garbage service."   To combat this potential threat of illegal dumping, the committee suggested a public notification of fee increases, however "[t]he county has already spent approximately $1,200 for public notices on these fee increases."   These notifications might give customers information that would justify the garbage services' inclination to raise fees, and in so doing might plant some seeds of understanding in their customers.   If customers understand why fees might be going up, it is possible that they will accept the higher cost and be less likely to refuse garbage service

            While all of Benton County does receive curbside garbage service, only two hauling companies are charged with this immense task of waste collection.   Corvallis Disposal Company operates out of Corvallis and is responsible for collecting all garbage west of Highway 99, while Albany-Lebanon Sanitation Company, which operates out of Albany, is responsible for the areas to the east of the highway.

            Corvallis Disposal has a very active and public recycling program, however customers must pay an extra fee to receive recycling service.   Essentially, customers pay for recycling service, while the extra revenue to the company "...offsets about 20% of the costs of offering the service."   Corvallis Disposal also has an extensive composting program that provides composting containers free of charge to interested customers.

            Like any other sanitation company, Corvallis Disposal does not accept certain waste for recycle, such as bags or wraps, food storage, freezer containers (Tupperware), containers five-gallons or larger, hazardous waste containers, or Styrofoam.   In addition, a fee is added to customers' bills for collection of extra bags or containers of waste.   According to the minutes from SWAC's June 2004 meeting, the summer fee for extra bags was $3.50, soon to be rising to $4.50.

Corvallis Disposal & Recycling Co. Fee Structure

            On July 13, 2004, the Benton County Board of Commissioners agreed to alter the fee structure of Corvallis Disposal Company "...based on an increase in operating costs over the last 5 years of inflation."   The last change to fees went into effect five years prior to the above date, on July, 1 1999.   Within Benton County, the fee structure for residential garbage collection is the same for each community, but it varies depending on container sizes and types as well as the kind of service customers receive.

Monthly Service Rates for Benton County

            In addition to these rates, Corvallis Disposal also charges for collection of special items.   Charges range from a minimum of $17.50 for items such as dishwashers, dryers, push-mowers, or mattresses, to a maximum charge of $27.00 for larger items, including freezers, bathtubs, refrigerators, and other things.

            Additionally, there is a fee for collection of extra bags or material.   Collection of extra bags will rise from $3.50 to $4.50 with the change to the fee structure.   Customers are also charged an extra $17.50 per cubic yard of material not contained by a bag or container.   In addition to this, there is a fee of $1.40 per minute for one person to load the waste (with a five minute minimum) and $0.60 fee per minute if a second person is required.

            Corvallis Disposal will not pick up tires and rims, instead customers must take them to Coffin Butte.   At Coffin Butte, customers are charged a fee of $6.00 each for tires off of the rim and $12.00 each if they are on the rim.   Collection of truck tires costs $22.00 each for those off of the rim, and $30.00 each for those on the rim.   Needless to say, these seemingly high rates of tire collection may tempt customers to discretely get rid of their tires elsewhere.

Severity of Illegal Dumping

            According to Gordon Brown of Benton County Environmental Health and Peter Idema of Benton County Planning and Building Department, the problem of illegal dumping in Benton County is "not so bad."   Mr. Idema has experience working in Lincoln County, where the fees for disposal are much higher than in Benton County.   According to Mr. Idema, it is likely this difference in fee structures that is to account for the relatively low occurrence of illegal dumping in Benton County.   In areas where fees are higher, the public is generally less likely to pay for proper disposal.   However, Mr. Idema was sure to point out that the problem is relative.   Illegal dumping does exist in Benton County, yet the severity of the problem is relatively lower than in other areas of the state.   Mr. Idema has witnessed litter and small piles of trash on the shoulders of rural roads near his home, but he has not seen anything to indicate that the problem has been increasing with time.   Most of the dumpsites that have been discovered generally consist of household items.

Sprague Twedt, Benton County's Forest Deputy, verifies Mr. Idema's suspicion of increased dumping severity elsewhere, by stating, "There is a steady, but not huge problem of illegal dumping in Benton County.   I think some of the neighboring counties have it worse than we do.   None-the-less, it's an aggravating problem."   Mr. Twedt has indicated that while illegal dumping has been reported in all parts of the county, there are a few areas that seem to be repeated dumpsites.   "Areas near the dump or dump stations are obviously hotbeds.   And second [in severity] would have to be well traveled forested areas."  

Mr. Twedt has also noticed that time-of-year does seem to affect the severity of illegal dumping within the county.   As university students are occasionally found to be culprits of illegal dumping, Twedt indicated that springtime, the end of the school year, is often a time of increased dumping.   The ending of the school-year, coupled with higher levels of activity in the forests due to more areas open to hiking, biking, hunting, camping etc., also contributes to Mr. Twedt's perceived flux in illegal dumping.   However, even with this perceived flux and acknowledged presence of illegal dumping in Benton County, Mr. Twedt estimates that only about 5% of the Forest Deputy's time is spent addressing these issues.   That percentage is even lower, about 1%, for officers involved in regular patrol.   According to Twedt, "...there just is no time" to devote more resources to the issue.

            Gordon Brown, staff member of the Solid Waste Advisory Council and Senior Health Specialist of the County Department of Health has indicated that while his department used to receive complaints of illegal waste sites, the last major action that they undertook was "...about ten years ago, in an old quarry."   Apparently, some rural residents had been disposing of their trash in a large pit, dug out from a retired quarry nearby.   In situations such as this, the county generally will notify the property owner of a possible injunction if the waste is not cleaned up.   If the problem is not resolved, the county has the authority to issue a nuisance abatement ordinance requiring the property owner to clean up their waste.

            Both Mr. Brown and Mr. Idema have also offered insight into the psychology of illegal dumpers.   They have suggested that in areas where trash is apparent (whether in large quantities or small) people have been more likely to dump there as well.   While Mr. Brown indicated that most of the sites his agency has dealt with in the past have been original disposal sites, places where garbage already exists tend to be sites of repeated dumping.

Programs Dedicated to Illegal Dumping Issues

            While the Solid Waste Advisory Council and the Department of Health used to concentrate more of their efforts on problems of illegal dumping, a decline in complaints has led them to direct their focus toward illegal junkyards and junk dealerships on residential land.   According to Gordon Brown, "I'd say about 3% of my job deals with illegal dumping."   Essentially, the Department of Health now responds to neighbors' complaints of private junkyards or piles of garbage on residential properties that have gotten out of hand.   Other than the minimal time devoted to illegal dumping by the Department of Health, Mr. Brown is unsure of any other programs devoted to combating the issue.

            The county Building and Development department also deals minimally with issues of illegal dumping in Benton County.   When a site has been identified, the county will "put the lean on the property owner," which generally has resulted in a successful clean-up.   If this does not occur within a timely manner, the county issues a nuisance abatement ordinance to the property owner.   Peter Idema has also indicated that other than the small effort his agency puts into combating illegal dumping, he is unaware of any other dedicated programs.

            To deter people from dumping, the county public works department has erected signs stating the illegality of dumping.   However, because there is no single agency that deals expressly with the issue, it is unknown how effective these signs are in deterring dumpers.   In Corporal Sprague Twedt's opinion, "Signs do a little good, but often turn into garbage or targets themselves.   There is some evidence that signs and persistent neighbors have had some effect over the years, however I think it just moves the dumpsites down the road to the next [isolated] area."  

Lane County employees involved in cleaning up dumpsites have also expressed Twedt's suspicion that signs often turn into garbage or targets themselves.   While there used to be a problem with signs being defaced, taken down, or even shot at, the BLM and Lane County have developed a creative solution by placing stickers of the American flag on the signs.   This has apparently resulted in fewer disturbances to the signs and thus increased their presumed effectiveness.

            Aside from the county, the City of Corvallis Community Development Department investigates nuisance abatement ordinances issued to individuals who have improperly disposed of their garbage.   "Development Services responds to citizens' concerns regarding public nuisances ranging from unsafe buildings to improper disposal of trash and garbage.   During FY 2002-2003, inspectors investigated and resolved 230 citizen complaints."   According to the city Community Development Department, occasional cooperation from the fire, police, and health departments helps to resolve complaints.   While this agency does respond to citizen complaints, they are a municipal agency, restricting their operations to within the urban growth boundary of Corvallis.

Sprague Twedt of the County Sheriff's Office has indicated that because Benton County receives federal funds from Title III of the "Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000," they are able to focus at least a small amount of their resources toward illegal dumping issues.   Among other things, Title III provides counties with federal grants for funding county projects such as community service work camps, forest-related education opportunities, or community forestry.   While Benton County receives this funding, "In some counties that do not receive Title III money from the feds, the federal government funds what is called Dump Stoppers."

            In Oregon, it appears that the county with the most active involvement with Dump Stoppers is Clackamas County.   Dump Stoppers "...is funded by a federal grant to deter illegal dumping and vandalism on U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Clackamas County owned forest lands within the County."   Dump Stoppers also teams up with private timberland owners, utility companies, as well as local school districts to combat illegal dumping.   According to the Clackamas County Dump Stoppers website, the program has been extremely successful, removing "over 107,000 pounds of solid waste, 20,000 pounds of scrap metal and 1000 tires" from all land within the county line.

Costs of Illegal Dumping

            As there is no single agency or organization within Benton County that is devoted to solving the problem of illegal dumping, it is difficult to estimate the amount of money that is collectively spent combating the issue.   Sprague Twedt of the County Sheriff's Office has estimated that "...about five thousand dollars is spent by the county each year actually doing cleanup.   That would include the county road department, who often gets to clean ditch dumping along county roads."   Interestingly, Mr. Twedt has deliberately left out the Environmental Health department from his estimate, because "[Environmental Health] get[s] involved in all kinds of projects, some of which are technically illegal dumping."

Who is Responsible for Clean-up?

            For private property, after a property owner has been issued a nuisance abatement ordinance issued by either the county or Sheriff's Department, they are required to clean up the trash themselves.   As was stated above, within the city of Corvallis, inspectors from Development Services are also charged with the duty of responding to complaints regarding dumpsites.

            For dumpsites on public land, the easiest way for the Sheriff's Department to determine who left the garbage is to try and locate an address or other such information that might be in the pile.   Unfortunately, "[a]s there were seldom addresses within the dumps to follow-up on, only a few were resolved by arrest."  

            Mr. Twedt has reported that in Benton County, property owners and law enforcement "...do the bulk of the cleanup."   Apparently, there are also forest user organizations such as the Flat Mountain Riders Association (a local group of ATV and off-road motorcycle enthusiasts) that participate in volunteer cleanup at a small scale.

Commonly Dumped Items

            According to Peter Idema, most of the complaints that have been received at the Building and Development Department are regarding piles of general household garbage.   Gordon Brown has also observed that many of the complaints they have responded to are regarding general household waste either along rural roads and highways, or on private property.   Mr. Brown was also sure to reiterate the fact that even minimal amounts of preexisting garbage often raises the likelihood of additional dumping.

            Sprague Twedt, former Benton County Forest Deputy, has added abandoned vehicles, and building or remodeling waste to the list of items generally found.   Construction waste could be due to contractors' employees disposing trash where it is free (and illegal), and saving what money their company may have allocated for legal disposal at the landfill.   Mr. Twedt also notes that the university population is occasionally the source of illegally disposed trash.   Students often have accumulated trash by the end of the school year, and instead of spending their loan money on landfill fees, some resort to discretely dumping in the nearby forests.

Consequences of Improper Garbage Disposal

            According to Mr. Twedt of the County Sheriff's office, when perpetrators are identified, the consequences are generally not serious.   "Misdemeanor dumping arrests are generally reduced to violations with small fines and little or no follow-up by the courts.   It's like trespass to them, de minimus ."

            The Sheriff's Office does occasionally receive complaints, but it is not something that they generally hear a lot about.   Sprague Twedt estimates that as Forest Deputy he received an average of about ten complaints per year.   In addition to these sites that were reported, Mr. Twedt said, "I would discover at least ten illegal dumpsites a year," resulting in the discovery of about 20 sites per year.   Due to the scarcity of identification information in dumpsites (e.g. names, addresses, phone numbers, etc.), Mr. Twedt suspects that there are only about "three or four convictions a year."

While some of the other county organizations have the authority to enforce nuisance abatement ordinances, the consequences of not following through with these ordinances is unknown to them, partly because it is rare that property owners do not respond to these ordinances and clean up their own trash.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2002 Solid Waste Composition and Characterization."   Oregon DEQ Solid Waste Program . <http://www.deq.state.or.us/wmc/solwaste/rsw.htm>   11 Jan. 2005.

Allan, Stuart, Aileen R. Buckley, and James E. Meacham.   The Atlas of Oregon .   Ed. William G. Loy.   2 nd ed. Eugene, OR: University of Oregon Press, © 2001

Benton County Board of Commissioners.   Before the Board of Commissioners of Benton County, State of Oregon .   "In the Matter of Approving a Rate Increase Request for Corvallis Disposal & Recycling Company."   Corvallis, OR.   21 June, 2004.

Brown, Gordon.   Personal Interview.   25 Jan. 2005

Clackamas County Dump Stoppers .   25 Mar. 2004.   2 Feb. 2005.   <http://www.co.clackamas.or.us/dtd/dumpstop/>

"Comprehensive Plan."   Benton County Community Development.    Jan. 2001.   11 Jan. 2005.   <http://www.co.benton.or.us/development/Comp_Plan/Comp_Plan_TOC.htm>  

Corvallis Disposal Company . 14 Jan. 2005 <http://corvallis.disposal.com/recycle.aspx>  

Gibb, Ken.   "Community Development Department Annual Report: FY 2002-2003."   City of Corvallis Community Development Department .   Jan. 2005.   <http://www.ci.corvallis.or.us/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=310&Itemid=26112>   

GIS raw data.

Idema, Peter.   Personal Interview.   26 Jan. 2005.

Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000.   Pub. L. 106-393.   30 Oct. 2000.   Stat. 1607.

Soares, Justin.   "Greener Pastures: Corvallis, Oregon."   MotherEarthNews.com   October 2002.   11 Jan. 2004.   <http://www.motherearthnews.com/arc/1079/>  

"SWAC June 2004 Minutes." Benton County Environmental Health Department.   18 Jan. 2005 <http://www.co.benton.or.us/health/EH/PDF%20files/SWAC%20June%2004.pd>

"SWAC May 2004 Minutes." Benton County Environmental Health Department.   18 Jan. 2005 <http://www.co.benton.or.us/health/EH/PDF%20files/SWAC%20May%204-04.pdf>

Twedt, Sprague.   "Re: Illegal dumping questions."   E-mail to Gregg Shetterly.   2 Feb. 2005.

U.S. Census Bureau.   Benton County Quick-Facts From the U.S. Census Bureau . 13 Jan. 2005.     <http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/41/41003.html>