BEND, OR -- Deschutes County is entering into negotiations with Hooker Creek to buy the company's Moon Pit gravel mine east of Bend and convert it to a landfill. The process of finding a new location began five years ago, when officials thought the Knott Landfill in Bend would reach capacity by 2029. Solid Waste Director Tim Brownell says that has changed, "Right now, based on our fill rates and estimates and how densely we can compact material, that's now looking more like 2030 - the middle to the end of 2030. So, we've bought a year." But he believes contract negotiations for the purchase of a new location could take five or six years, which means the clock is ticking, "We are going to be looking at 'how can we really improve our recovery of waste?' Diverting it out of the landfill. And we're going to be very intentional about that. How do we manage construction demolition debris, organic debris for composting? That sort of thing." Brownell says they're asking, "Can we get to diverting materials and extend that timeframe even further?"

Commissioners last week agreed to start talks with Hooker Creek, but they raised several concerns about the Moon Pit site, including whether the county will have access to water necessary for landfill operations. Brownell tells KBND News there is water at the existing mine, "It actually has an industrial water permit, so they can pull close to a thousand gallons per minute. It's a significant water right. The question is whether any of that will be transferred to the county in the purchase." He adds, "That's why it's in the interest of the county and certainly, that's what we heard from the Commissioners that we want to have a portion of that water right, ideally, for our uses." And, there are state and federal permits and land use changes required to operate a landfill at the site. 

Commissioners have said if water and other permits can't be secured, they will back out of the estimated $15 million deal. "We do have some other sites that were considered," says Brownell, "In the long run, if we're not able to site a landfill here in the county, there are landfills up at the border of Oregon and Washington that we could transport it to. But that has its own impacts, environmental and otherwise. So, ideally, we want it here, but there are other options if we have to follow them." 

To listen to our full conversation with Solid Waste Director Tim Brownell about the Moon Pit site, visit our Podcast Page.