Hazardous waste landfill in Oregon plans expansion

ARLINGTON, Ore. – The company operating Oregon’s only hazardous waste landfill says it needs more space as it anticipates a future influx of waste.

Military cleanups, federal Superfund sites and firefighter training facilities are among reasons cited by Chemical Waste Management, or CWM, to expand its hazardous waste operation outside the Columbia River town of Arlington, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported Tuesday.

CWM spokesperson Jackie Lang said the expansion is about “making sure that dangerous materials and potentially dangerous materials are managed safely in the years ahead.”

The hazardous waste landfill sits on nearly 1,300 acres next to Oregon’s largest solid waste landfill run by the same parent company, Waste Management.

CWM is currently permitted to use 320 acres for hazardous waste disposal and wants to add 200 acres of disposal space. The company will apply to modify its permit with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

DEQ cleanup, hazardous waste permitting and emergency response manager David Anderson said the existing hazardous waste landfill “is approximately half full.” With new waste streams such as the Portland Harbor Superfund cleanup, more space will soon become critical, Anderson said.

CWM’s Arlington landfill has played a key role in the region since opening in the 1970s. The United States had 18 commercial hazardous waste landfill facilities as of 2019 – one apiece in Oregon and Idaho, and none in Washington.