Benton County planning commission continues hearing on Coffin Butte landfill expansion after hours of public testimony

The Benton County Planning Commission on the evening recessed and continued the quasi‑judicial public hearing on LU‑24‑027 — Republic Services’ application for a conditional‑use permit to expand the Coffin Butte Landfill — to June 17 at 6 p.m., after dozens of residents and experts testified and the applicant asked for additional time to respond to new evidence.

The continuation gives planning staff time to prepare a supplemental report (to be available no later than June 10), limits oral testimony at the continued hearing to new evidence, and preserves a post‑record period that allows the applicant at least seven days after the record closes to file final written arguments. Commissioner Mike Struthers moved to continue the hearing; Commissioner John Fulford seconded and the motion carried.

Why it matters: The expansion application drew sustained testimony from neighbors, scientists and current and former county volunteers who told commissioners the proposal raises significant health, safety, environmental and infrastructure questions that they say are not resolved by the materials submitted with the application. Speakers urged the commission to allow more time to add documents to the record and to address what many called gaps in monitoring and enforcement.

Most prominent concerns - Fire risk and emergency response: Resident Virginia Scott told commissioners that the applicant’s fire‑risk exhibit undercounted local responses. She said Adair Rural Fire and Rescue records show 28 calls to the landfill between 2013 and 2025, compared with the applicant’s statement that there have been five fires since 1999. “The applicant drastically underrepresents the severity, number, [and] type of fire to individuals…