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being dumped into the pit by Pacific Northwest Marble and Granite on December 12, 2023. The photos show
<br />white material leaving the truck and accumulating in the pit and around the edges of the truck where it sits on the
<br />asphalt above the pit. The operator of this pit also constructed and operated another pit without proper permits in
<br />Marion County which was subsequently closed after enforcement by DEQ and Marion County. This site also dug
<br />a pit with stalls for vactor trucks to back up and dump in as well as receiving vast amounts of countertop waste.
<br />That site is no longer in operation.
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<br /> Applicants state that the purpose of the operation is to fill in low lying portions of their property to improve
<br />drainage and expand the farmable area they have. They further state that after the pit fills they would farm on top
<br />of it.
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<br /> MCC 17.110.223 provides the definition of farm use as taken from ORS 215.203(2)(a):
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<br /> As used in this section, “farm use” means the current employment of land for the primary purpose of obtaining a
<br />profit in money by raising, harvesting and selling crops or the feeding, breeding, management and sale of, or the
<br />produce of, livestock, poultry, fur-bearing animals or honeybees or for dairying and the sale of dairy products or
<br />any other agricultural or horticultural use or animal husbandry or any combination thereof. “Farm use” includes
<br />the preparation, storage and disposal by marketing or otherwise of the products or by-products raised on such
<br />land for human or animal use. “Farm use” also includes the current employment of land for the primary purpose
<br />of obtaining a profit in money by stabling or training equines including but not limited to providing riding
<br />lessons, training clinics and schooling shows. “Farm use” also includes the propagation, cultivation,
<br />maintenance and harvesting of aquatic, bird and animal species that are under the jurisdiction of the State Fish
<br />and Wildlife Commission, to the extent allowed by the rules adopted by the commission. “Farm use” includes the
<br />on-site construction and maintenance of equipment and facilities used for the activities described in this
<br />subsection. “Farm use” does not include the use of land subject to the provisions of ORS chapter 321, except land
<br />used exclusively for growing cultured Christmas trees or land described in ORS 321.267 (3) or 321.824 (3).
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<br /> MCC 17.120.315 (A), (C), (D) and (E) defines “dispose” “solid waste” “solid waste disposal sites” and “waste”:
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<br /> A. “Dispose” or “disposal” includes accumulation, storage, collection, transportation, and disposal of solid
<br />wastes;
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<br /> C. “Solid waste” means all putrescible and nonputrescible wastes, whether in a solid or in a liquid form, except
<br />liquid-carried industrial wastes or sewage or sewage hauled as an incidental part of a septic tank or cesspool
<br />cleaning service, but including garbage, rubbish, ashes, sewage sludge, street refuse, industrial wastes, swill,
<br />demolition and construction wastes, abandoned vehicles or parts thereof, tires, discarded home and industrial
<br />appliances, manure, vegetable or animal solid or semi-solid wastes, dead animals and other discarded solid
<br />materials;
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<br /> D. “Solid waste disposal site or sites” means any land used for disposal of solid wastes, including, but not limited
<br />to, dumps, landfills, sanitary landfills, incinerators, and composting plants, but not including a landfill site which
<br />is not used by the public either directly or through a disposal service and which is used by the owner or tenant
<br />thereof to dispose of sawdust, bark, soil, rock, building demolition material or nonputrescible industrial waste
<br />products resulting from the process of manufacturing;
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<br /> E. “Waste” means useless, unwanted or discarded materials.
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<br /> Applicants state that they began this operation to fill in low lying lands on their property so they could create
<br />more farmable area and mitigate erosion. They also state that they only receive clean fill from companies doing
<br />excavation work. Provided in the definition of farm use is the sentence: “Farm use” includes the on-site
<br />construction and maintenance of equipment and facilities used for the activities described in this subsection.” It is
<br />common practice for farmers to receive fill dirt. Often it is offered for free, or property owners pay for it, as a
<br />method for construction sites to get rid of extra dirt and keep it in the local area. What is less common are
<br />companies paying a property owner to dispose of their extra dirt. This functions like a solid waste facility, where
<br />the actual waste, or soil in this case, is useless or unwanted material and the value is in the disposal and storage of
<br />it. 238 loads were received in a three month period, averaging nearly 80 loads per month.
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