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Salem’s trash will begin heading to a landfill at the end of the year as the Brooks incinerator that has long disposed of Marion County waste shuts down.
But the long-term future of garbage disposal in the region is uncertain as the Coffin Butte Landfill is on track to run out of capacity, and Apple Tree Holdings, an Oregon company that provides waste and recycling services, has proposed a new transfer station outside of Rickreall.
Reworld Marion Inc., formerly known as Covanta, will close the incinerator at 4850 Brooklake Road N.E. on Dec. 31. The New Jersey-based company notified Marion County in October.
The facility currently burns large amounts of waste from Marion County homes and businesses to generate electricity. It also burns medical and industrial waste from across the region.
A Reworld spokeswoman declined to say what led to the closure or whether it related to stricter emission monitoring laws championed by Oregon Sen. Deb Patterson, which took effect in September 2023.
“Reworld is turning to new business opportunities as part of its service expansion efforts in North America,” spokeswoman Nicolle Robles said in an email.
Marion County spokesman Jon Heynen said after the closure the county will send waste to the Marion Resource Recovery Facility, a recycling center at 3690 Brooklake Road N.E. It will then be taken to Coffin Butte Landfill outside Corvallis.
He said the county’s Solid Waste Management Advisory Council could weigh in on possible options for future waste management.
He said there would be no impact to the rates residents pay for garbage service.
“We are engaged in thoughtful conversations with local partners about the future of solid waste in Marion County,” Heynen said in an email. “We want to provide the best value for services we can for residents.”
Next steps
The closure has prompted a broader discussion about how the region should deal with its garbage as Coffin Butte is slated to run out of space in the coming years.
A panel on Saturday will discuss the future of solid waste disposal at the Salem Public Library.
Speakers include Patterson and the city of Salem’s Climate Action Plan Manager Julianah Douglas.
The discussion will include topics on the impacts of incinerators and landfills, legislation and pollution monitoring, innovative waste management policies, and the Reworld Marion closure.
The event is hosted by the Clean Air Now Coalition and others, and will take place at the downtown library in the Loucks Auditorium at 535 Liberty Street from 2 to 3:30 p.m. It is free and open to the public.
Incinerator closure
Plans for the incinerator site following its closure are unclear.
The notice sent to Marion County in its entirety said, “Reworld will be ending waste services at the Reworld Marion Thermomechanical Treatment Facility on December 31, 2024 as it turns to new business opportunities as part of its service expansion efforts in North America.”
Robles, the Reworld spokeswoman, told Salem Reporter the plant will be decommissioned, but that next steps for the location are up to Marion County. Heynen, the county spokesman, said those steps are up to Reworld, since they own the property.
Reworld Marion has previously been cited for failing to follow state regulations on emissions.
The incinerator has been fined several times for exceeding emissions limits, most recently in June 2024, and paid its most recent fine of $22,800 in early September, said Department of Environmental Quality spokesman Dylan Darling.
DEQ records showed the garbage incinerator exceeded the permitted carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide or particulate matter emissions various times between 2022 and 2024. Sulfur dioxide is a pollutant which can cause acid rain.
Patterson said she is puzzled by the facility’s closure.
The manager of the facility, Steve Nipp, was scheduled to speak about the plant at the Rotary Club of Salem on Nov. 20, but canceled before the talk, Patterson said.
“The only piece I played in this is just to try and figure out what is coming out of the smokestack. Up until now the testing has only been once a year. The company has been able to hire their own testing company and they have been able to schedule the date for the testing and so that doesn’t necessarily give you the most accurate data on what is coming out of the smokestack the rest of the year,” she said.
Melissa Quillard, senior manager and spokesperson for Republic Services, the solid waste collection company that runs Coffin Butte Landfill, said the landfill has not yet been contacted about accepting waste that is currently going to the incinerator.
Coffin Butte Landfill currently has a pending proposal for an expansion.
“While the expansion of the landfill is crucial to managing the community’s long-term waste disposal needs, we have adequate capacity to serve our customers, and remain focused on operating the landfill safely and responsibly,” Quillard said.
There is also a new waste transfer station in the works, according to Nic Dahl of Appletree Holdings, LLC who addressed city council during a recent city council meeting.
Apple Tree Holdings sent an unsolicited proposal to Polk County for the new transfer station to be set up in Rickreall to start operating in 2027.
According to a staff report from the city’s Chief Financial Officer Josh Eggleston, there are currently no solid waste transfer stations in Polk County and all waste from the county is hauled elsewhere.
Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected] or 503-335-7790.
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Joe Siess is a reporter for Salem Reporter. Joe joined Salem Reporter in 2024 and primarily covers city and county government but loves surprises. Joe previously reported for the Redmond Spokesman, the Bulletin in Bend, Klamath Falls Herald and News and the Malheur Enterprise. He was born in Independence, MO, where the Oregon Trail officially starts, and grew up in the Kansas City area.
