This week, the Deschutes County Commission took a hesitant step toward building a landfill for the next 100 years of trash and recycling in Central Oregon.
FILE - The Moon Pit quarry site in April 2024, about 16 miles southeast of Bend, Oregon, where officials are negotiating a deal to buy land for a new landfill.
Courtesy of Deschutes County
The county’s top site choice is a quarry southeast of Bend, owned by a subsidiary of Hooker Creek LLC, a local construction materials company.
All three county commissioners unanimously agreed Wednesday to begin negotiations with the company to purchase its Moon Pit property. But, two commissioners said that doesn’t mean they’re sold on a deal.
In a rare alliance, Commissioners Phil Chang and Patti Adair agreed that the outcome depends on terms for using water rights and the value of minerals at the site, as well as plans to mitigate impacts on wildlife.
Particularly the water rights “are a sticking point that makes me incredibly nervous,” Adair said at a public meeting Wednesday.
The Moon Pit is a 440-acre site located about 16 miles southeast of Bend off Highway 20, adjacent to the Oregon Badlands Wilderness. County records state the Badlands Rock Trailhead is about 700 feet away from the property line.
County consultants have eyed the property as a potential landfill site since 1996, shortly after it was purchased by the founders of Hooker Creek. The current solid waste hub for Central Oregon, Knott Landfill, is expected to run out of space by 2030.
Hooker Creek has proposed keeping the state water rights at the Moon Pit site, and leasing water to the county for a penny a gallon. That will add up to a projected $52,000 a year, county records show. The company’s well is permitted to pump more than 700,000 gallons of water per day for sand and gravel mining.
Operating a landfill will require only about 10% of that amount, county planners said.
Related: Deschutes County commissioners hold off on selecting site for new landfill
“I still have significant concerns about the site,” Chang said. “I would want to be sure the county gets the best deal possible.”
Commissioner Tony DeBone was the lone elected official who was not openly skeptical of the Moon Pit and said the county’s solid waste advisory committee unanimously chose the site.
“Now, the step is to acknowledge that recommendation and get to a purchase and sale agreement negotiation. We are just starting the negotiation,” DeBone said.
It will take years before any money changes hands, according to the county’s solid waste director, Tim Brownell.
A mound of garbage at the Knott Landfill in Deschutes County, which is set to close in 2029.
Joni Land / OPB
“This due diligence process — there’s the permitting and everything else, the procurement — it’s going to take us several years before we get to writing a final check for this site.”
Initial development costs for the Moon Pit landfill are estimated at $50 to $64 million, which includes $15.9 million to acquire the land.
The end goal is to build a home for an estimated 38 million tons of waste over a 100-year lifespan.
County officials said they reviewed 200 potential sites before vetting two finalists, the Moon Pit and Roth East. The latter site would be cheaper to buy and develop but is located farther out of town, driving up the ongoing cost of hauling waste. Consultants also found Roth East may have more impacts on residential areas, and the site does not currently have any water rights, which could be tricky to establish as state regulators take a more cautious approach to approving wells in the region.