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Land‑use subcommittee flags quarry timing, Cell 6 and corporate reviews as pivotal to landfill capacity
Summary
A Benton County land‑use subcommittee reported that rock remaining in a planned landfill expansion (Cell 6) complicates capacity calculations; Republic Services has routed subcommittee material to corporate counsel, and county planners say they are not party to any private operator negotiations.
The Benton County land‑use subcommittee told SWAC/DSAC that a portion of the landfill’s theoretical capacity remains solid rock within a quarry area planned as Cell 6, and that quarrying timing and coordination with private contractors will determine when the county’s operational footprint can move into that cell.
Subcommittee members said the current active cell is expected to be filled within roughly three years and that landfill operators will need to shift operations into Cell 6 afterward. The presence of unexcavated rock means the theoretical design capacity is not immediately usable, the subcommittee said.
The subcommittee reported that its draft findings were reviewed by Republic Services’ local attorney, Jeff Condit, and forwarded to Republic Services’ corporate office for additional review. "He apparently has completed his review. And now it's been sent off to corporate Republic Services," a subcommittee representative said; Inga Williams (work‑group participant) told the subcommittee she hoped to receive a response from county public services within about a week to 10 days.
County staff clarified the county’s role in operator discussions. Daniel (Benton County staff member) told the committee: "Benton County isn't in discussion with Republic or Knife River about their quarry or landfill operations. Knife River and Republic reached out to the county to ask preliminary questions about county zoning code and areas that might be allowable to store quarry rock, but they're not in active discussion with the county currently." The planning‑director clarification was given to counter impressions that the county was negotiating excavation timing or methods with private operators.
Why it matters: how and when the quarry rock in Cell 6 is excavated affects the usable volume of the landfill and the county’s operational timeline. The subcommittee has been cataloguing prior land‑use decisions and documents to determine whether past conditions of approval have been met or superseded by later actions and permits.
Next steps: the subcommittee will continue work on key land‑use findings. Members said Republic Services had begun internal review of the subcommittee’s draft and that responses from Republic’s corporate office were expected within days to a couple of weeks, after which the subcommittee and county staff will reconcile differences, if any.
