Council talks trash, salutes Short Mountain.

Byline: County Beat by Joe Mosley The Register-Guard

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS of garbage is now heaped at the less-than-aptly-named Short Mountain Landfill.

So how does one honor the silver anniversary of a dump? Well, county commissioners "recognized" the facility this week for doing its job and staying ahead of the curve of landfill challenges - not the least of which is the mountain of refuse produced by a county population that has grown by more than 45 percent since the first load was deposited on Dec. 4, 1976.

Short Mountain replaced the Day Island Landfill - now part of Alton Baker Park along the Willamette River - and was the main element in what was then a string of landfills located around the county, from Florence to Franklin. All of the smaller landfills have since closed, several of them replaced by transfer stations from which garbage is hauled to the sprawling dump site east of Goshen.

Short Mountain also was among the first landfills in the state to be located away from river bottom land, where dumps had traditionally been sited to take advantage of gravel "borrow" areas.

The idea with Short Mountain was to deposit garbage in an area with clay soil that would help prevent "leachate," a sort-of rubbish tea, from seeping into groundwater. Coincidentally, installation of a new leachate treatment system that will incorporate reverse-osmosis technology to gather impurities from liquids that seep through the landfill is now being completed at the 25-year-old dump.

But the bottom line is this: 50 million cubic yards of garbage forms present-day Short Mountain - which is enough to fill Autzen Stadium 150 times.

Gravel vs. farms

County commissioners have set aside six hours next Tuesday to hear a staff report, ask follow-up questions and deliberate toward a decision on Eugene Sand & Gravel's disputed proposal to mine aggregate from 575 acres of farmland north of Santa Clara.

Staff planner Thom Lanfear has worked through more than four boxes of written materials from proponents and opponents, and his presentation to commissioners will cap what has been more than a yearlong process.

A three-day public hearing was held in July at the Sheldon High School auditorium to accommodate record crowds, and three months of exchanging written summations and rebuttals followed.

The proposed mine site lies near the Willamette River between Thistledown and Lone Pine farms, and owners of the popular fruit and vegetable operations contend that dust, noise and traffic produced by the mine would irreparably harm their businesses. Opponents also maintain that the property is part of a dwindling inventory of local land suitable for high-yield farming.

Eugene Sand & Gravel's owners have contended that gravel deposits beneath the land are of a high quality, and that such a gravel supply is needed to ensure the future of the century-old business and its employees. The current mine on Delta Highway is nearly depleted.

Both sides have promised to appeal a negative outcome from the Board of Commissioners. Such an appeal would go to the state Land Use Board of Appeals, then potentially to the state Supreme Court.

Gold-medal transit

This just in from the Oregon Department of Transportation: Lane Transit District was named the state's transit system of the year recently at the Oregon Transportation Conference in Seaside.

A half-dozen individuals who work with public transportation districts around the state also were honored at the conference.

According to the department, the annual awards "honor achievements and contributions of organizations and individuals in the transit industry, particularly those who have enhanced communities through public transportation improvements."

Lane County reporter Joe Mosley can be reached at 338-2384 or by e-mail at [e-mail]

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COUNTY BEAT Joe Mosley