Trying to add a payment method? You can do this on the 
QuickTake:
A Lane County hearings official will make a decision on an appeal of a county decision to allow the CleanLane recycling facility to be built at Short Mountain Landfill.
Lane County officials are trying to overcome efforts to stop the CleanLane recycling center from going up at Short Mountain Landfill.
Lane County officials face an appeal of the planning director’s approval of a special use permit that would allow the recycling center to be built at Short Mountain Landfill. The appeal, filed by the Lane County Garbage and Recycling Association, seeks to reverse that approval.
Lane County hearings officer David Doughman heard arguments from both sides Thursday, Aug. 6. He didn’t make a decision at the hearing, but plans to do so by mid-October.
The crux of the case rests on whether the proposed recycling facility is an accessory of the landfill and, therefore, an acceptable use at the county-run Short Mountain Landfill.
The open appeal case is the latest twist in Lane County’s CleanLane saga. For years, Lane County has planned CleanLane, a recycling facility that would handle at least 120,000 tons of trash annually if built. In 2023, the county agreed to contract with Bulk Handling Systems, a Eugene-based company, to operate the center.
Since then, the county has faced numerous land-use setbacks. The county failed to get approval for its first choice in Goshen after losing an appeal that went to the Land Use Board of Appeals and then the Oregon Court of Appeals, where it also failed. The county is still open to building Goshen through a potential code amendment but is also pursuing Short Mountain Landfill as an option.
The garbage and recycling association’s appeal of the Short Mountain Landfill site argues the proposed recycling center fails to meet the county code’s definition of “solid waste disposal,” is a private — not county — operation due to its contract with Bulk Handling Systems and is not an accessory directly tied to the landfill. The association, which represents haulers opposed to the project, argues that these points disqualify the proposal from location at Short Mountain.
Wendie Kellington, an attorney for Lane County Garbage and Recycling Association, pushed back on the county’s notion that the recycling center would operate as an extension of the landfill.
“It’s a new freestanding industrial complex,” Kellington said.
Kellington also pointed to the requirements of the county’s contract with Bulk Handling Systems, which requires diversion of trash from Short Mountain Landfill.
“It’s functionally and entirely separate, as the contract makes plain,” Kellington said. “In fact, the last proposed location for the facility was a mile away from the landfill, and the proposed facility’s stated purpose is to avoid the landfill.”
The CleanLane facility proposal would cover about 138,000 square feet of building space, including a main material recovery building, an anaerobic digestion/composting facility, a truck shelter, and a nearly 7,000-square-foot office and education center. The CleanLane site would be on about 11 acres located within Short Mountain Landfill.
Josh Soper, the private attorney representing the county in its application, said the landfill and CleanLane project are linked.
“The crux of the matter is that the entire purpose of this proposed facility is to reduce the volume of waste that is unnecessarily entering the Short Mountain Landfill and to extend the useful life of the landfill,” he said. “And it’s also not disputed that the majority of what enters this proposed facility will end up in that landfill.”
He also said the proposed facility qualifies as solid waste disposal “in its own right,” and the county’s list of examples in code all involve disposal of solid waste or processing it prior to disposal.
The Goshen site denial also is part of the arguments in the Short Mountain proposal. That’s because the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals concluded CleanLane was “waste-related,” and, therefore, not allowed in Goshen. County officials offer that as evidence the landfill meets the criteria as a waste-related project.
Soper said the county’s plan to use the CleanLane facility to process solid waste prior to transferring a share of it to the landfill meets the requirements in statute.
Eric Herbert, president of Bulk Handling Systems, told the hearings officer the company has a contractual obligation to recover at least 35% of the waste it receives.
“We intend to recover more than that,” he said. “Whatever’s remaining does go to the landfill. It doesn’t leave the site. That’s the contractual obligation.”
The hearings official will issue a written decision by Oct. 13. That timeline allows written arguments, testimony and exhibits to be filed for consideration.
From there, either side can appeal that decision further – to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals. After the land use board process, the decision could then face another petition in the Oregon Court of Appeals.
County weighs options
The activity around Short Mountain Landfill does not necessarily mean the county has given up on Goshen as a site, however.
Technically, the county’s contract with Bulk Handling Systems still requires it to have the CleanLane facility at Goshen, not Short Mountain Landfill.
Lane County officials have expressed an interest in changing county code to allow a recycling facility at Goshen, public records show. A code amendment would require action by county commissioners, which hasn’t yet happened.
In essence, the county’s land use application for Short Mountain Landfill has started, but CleanLane could still end up in Goshen with a code amendment. So in a way, the county’s pursuing both options.
“We’re still pursuing both, but Short Mountain can’t become the new identified location unless and until there’s a new contract amendment,” said Devon Ashbridge, county spokesperson.
A date is not set yet to discuss county code amendments, but the county commissioners will not look at any potential code amendments until some point on or after Aug. 18, when commissioners return from their recess.
A timeline of key events in the CleanLane saga
2015: The state of Oregon announces required materials recovery goals for counties starting in 2025. Lane County selects a 63% rate for a voluntary goal, up from 49.7% at the time.
2020: Lane County’s Climate Action Plan identifies Short Mountain Landfill as the highest contributor (77%) of greenhouse gases from the county’s operations.
December 2021: Waste Management Division staffers and Bulk Handling Systems give a presentation on waste processing technologies in use in other communities that may work in the county to meet its recovery goals.
March 2022: Lane County issues a request for proposals for waste recovery facilities to meet or exceed a 63% recovery goal. After a competitive process, the county picks Bulk Handling Systems for a contract to “further explore” building a facility near Short Mountain Landfill.
April 2022: The board adds this objective to its strategic plan: “Fully vet the construction of a waste processing facility for the Short Mountain Landfill.”
December 2023: The county approves plans to contract with Bulk Handling Systems to construct and operate the CleanLane project at the Goshen site and purchase the land. Commissioners voted 3-2, with Loveall and Ceniga opposed. The county also approves fee increases to help pay for the facility.
August 2024: Lane County commissioners approve $35.35 million in bonds for CleanLane. The terms include another $23.67 million in interest payments from 2025-2044, totaling $59 million.
November 2024: Lane County Public Works submits a request for a special-use permit and site design review for CleanLane.
April 2025: A Lane County hearings officer denies the county’s request for a special-use permit.
December 2025: Lane County loses the appeal it filed with the Land Use Board of Appeals. The county subsequently files an appeal in court.
Separately, county commissioners vote 3-2 to amend the CleanLane contract to move the facility from Goshen to Short Mountain Landfill and put $1.3 million toward engineering work at the new site.
April 2026: Lane County loses its court appeal in its bid for the recycling facility in Goshen.
June 2025: Lane County commissioners said they are committed to the CleanLane project and putting it in Goshen or potentially Short Mountain.
July 2025: The Oregon Supreme Court declines to review the county’s petition seeking a reversal of a court ruling that denied Lane County’s request to build the facility in Goshen.
Have something to say?
Send us a Letter to the Editor. Read our guidelines for Letters to the Editor here.
