garbage that greets visitors and local folk as they drive down Oregon's busiest tourist road, Highway 18.
Twenty years ago, when many of the decisions that have contributed to the current state of affairs were being made, Yamhill County was small, very rural and one of the more impoverished areas in the state. But it also happens to be one of the best places in the Western Hemisphere to grow pinot noir grapes. As the wine industry grew, so did McMinnville and the adjacent area.
However, because Oregon has some very tough land-use laws, most of McMinnville has not been swallowed up by suburban sprawl, even though the area has become more attractive to city-dwellers looking for a slightly slower pace of life. The result is that the area has grown as a tourist destination.
“The landfill is sitting on the gateway to this up-and-coming, high-end little wine town,” explained Ilsa Perse, a local artist and gallery owner, and the leader of the Stop the Dump Coalition, which has been fighting Waste Management for the last eight years.
Bad for business
Perse said the coalition has managed to unite disparate elements of the community, from farmers, to environmentalists moving there from Portland and other urban centers, to the downtown business people. Their interests may not all be identical, but they are aligned together, she said.
Convincing the environmentalists required no heavy lifting at all. Gary Langenwalter, a principal at the Portland Consulting Group and the former pastor of McCabe Chapel United Methodist Church, which overlooks the dumpsite,
Left: The entrance to the massive Riverbend Landfill.
Below: Farmer Ramsey McPhillips and resident goats.
Above: The tipping area on the face of the Riverbend Landfill, near McMinnville.
Photos: Manny Frishberg