County Revisits Landfill Siting; Horse Ridge Re-enters Consideration After Environmental Overlay Changes

BEND, Ore. — Deschutes County’s Solid Waste director told commissioners Sept. 29 that the county reopened its landfill siting process after negotiations for a previously recommended site (the Moon Pit) failed, and that a multi-parcel area near Horse Ridge has returned to consideration following revisions to environmental overlays.

Tim Brownell, Solid Waste director, said the county’s siting process began in 2022 and narrowed candidates from more than 200 parcels down to a handful. The board had previously accepted a staff recommendation for an aggregate-mine site called Moon Pit but negotiations with the owner stalled. At the board’s direction, staff reopened the process in March to re-evaluate sites in-county and to re-examine alternative disposal technologies.

Horse Ridge and next steps

- Horse Ridge area: Brownell said three disturbed parcels (previous aggregate or surface-mining sites) adjacent to county property on the east side of the Badlands are now being evaluated together; parcel owners have expressed interest in selling. The site had been ruled out earlier because of eagle overlays and other wildlife concerns but updated state wildlife mapping pushed those overlays back, bringing the parcels back into consideration.

- Advantages: The Horse Ridge pod is underlain by alluvial (sand and soil) deposits rather than hard basalt, which is operationally advantageous for landfill excavation and development, Brownell said.

- Process and timeline: The Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC) recommended in August that staff proceed to a final site evaluation—an approximately six-month, deep-dive review of financial, environmental and cultural constraints. Brownell said staff will seek executable agreements with landowners if the site passes the final evaluation and hopes to return to the board with a recommendation by roughly April 2026. The county also reported that Noti landfill capacity projections have shifted and the county now expects capacity to be needed between June and September 2031 (later than an earlier 2029 projection).

Why it matters

Securing a long-term landfill site (30–300 acres target) is a multidecade infrastructure decision for the county. Brownell emphasized that the county is pursuing previously disturbed sites where possible to reduce environmental disturbance and that staff will attempt to pre-negotiate executable agreements with landowners should a site clear technical review.

Speakers

- Tim Brownell, Director, Solid Waste (Deschutes County)

Actions

1) Action: Board direction taken previously (March 2025) and SWAC recommendation - kind: referral - motion: "Reopen the in-county landfill siting process and conduct final site evaluations, including Horse Ridge; seek executable agreements if the site is suitable." - mover/second: not specified - vote_record: [] - outcome: in_progress - notes: SWAC recommended final site evaluation in August; staff to return with findings in approximately six months.

Clarifying details

- Target site size: 30–300 acres to provide multi-generation disposal capacity. - Final evaluation: six-month scope to assess environmental, cultural and financial constraints; Roth East remains a previously evaluated alternate with known constraints near sage-grouse habitat. - Capacity timeline: Noti landfill capacity projected between June and September 2031 (staff noted this extends earlier projections and provides more time for siting work).

Proper names

- Horse Ridge site (discussed parcels) - Moon Pit (previously recommended site) - Noti landfill

Meeting context

- Engagement level: single presentation to the board summarizing multi-year technical process; SWAC involvement noted. - Implementation risk: medium — depends on environmental review outcomes, negotiations and potential legislative/regulatory constraints.

Searchable tags:["landfill","Horse Ridge","solid waste","SWAC","site evaluation","Deschutes County"]

Provenance: [{"block_id":"s-5679.27","local_start":0,"local_end":200,"evidence_excerpt":"Good afternoon, evening, commissioners, council members. For the record, Tim Brownell, the director of solid waste for Deschutes County. So, yes, we are talking trash.","reason_code":"topicintro"},{"block_id":"s-6104.77","local_start":0,"local_end":200,"evidence_excerpt":"At our our last meeting in August, the SWAC recommended to to, staff to do further what we call a final site evaluation. So it's a 6 month process of doing a significant, deep dive into the the financial, environmental, cultural, aspects of the site to see if it is truly, suitable for the use of, as a future landfill.","reason_code":"topicfinish"}]

Salience: {"overall":0.45,"overall_justification":"County infrastructure decision with long-term implications for waste management and land-use; multi-year technical process underway.","impact_scope":"regional","impact_scope_justification":"County-level infrastructure affects regional disposal and franchising."}