Benton County NRAC begins focused review of Coffin Butte landfill expansion; sets topics and timetable

Members of the Benton County Natural Resources Advisory Committee (NRAC) opened a multiweek review of Republic Services’ Coffin Butte landfill conditional use permit (CUP) application on a virtual meeting, outlining topics to analyze and a short timetable aimed at producing a recommendation for the county planning commission.

NRAC members said the application seeks to add about 59 acres to Coffin Butte and would extend the landfill’s capacity by an estimated six years; committee members and staff emphasized the committee’s role is to review only the proposed expansion, not the existing landfill operations.

The committee’s review matters because NRAC’s recommendation will be part of the record the planning commission uses to judge whether the expansion complies with Benton County Development Code criteria and to determine any conditions of approval. Committee members flagged potential impacts on air, soil and water, regional waste flows, transportation and local economics as priority topics.

“The Coffin Butte Conditional Use Permit has been deemed complete, and NRAC has been tasked with taking up that review,” NRAC Chair Jason Schindler said at the start of the discussion, adding: “We are gonna talk about that for most of this meeting.”

County…