‘We’ve got to get moving’: Efforts to site new Deschutes County landfill resume after talks on top pick fall through

(Update: Adding video, comments from Solid Waste Director Tim Brownell)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Negotiations began nearly a year ago between Deschutes County and Hooker Creek on future use of the Moon Pit mine site for a new county landfill. But now, negotiations have hit an impasse, sending the process back to Deschutes County commissioners.

"It will be the first landfill site in the state in over 32 years, so this is a significant endeavor.," county Solid Waste Director Tim Brownell told KTVZ News Tuesday.

"We want to make sure that we find the right place that meets the values of the community and has the least impact on the environment. And meets the needs of the cost effective disposal for our community," Brownell said/

Commissioners voted 3-0 last July to enter into negotiations with Hooker Creek to buy the Moon Pit aggregate mine site east of Bend for an estimated $15 million, choosing it over the other site finalist, called Roth East.

But even then, several major issues remained unresolved, and no one was saying the path to a done deal would be quick or easy. After the 3-0 vote, Commissioner Patti Adair said, “This is a long way from being done.” Colleague Phil Chang agreed: “We haven’t landed this thing yet.”

Brownell says the failed negotiations ultimately came down to money: "We just couldn't really get into agreement on the process for what the price would be. There were some issues around water rights. And there was the timing of the purchase - how quickly the county would be prepared to write a check, in essence."

So now, it's back to the drawing board.

County commissioners will now need to decide if the Solid Waste Advisory Committee will choose from the hundreds of previous options or seek shipping garbage outside of the county.

But one thing is clear: Time is ticking. 

"That's going to take us at least three years," Brownell said. "There's the possibility of litigation, which would take it out another couple of years, potentially. So yeah, we've got to get moving."

The Knott Landfill has about six years before it's predicted to be filled up. While the county is starting planning on a new recycling facility, it's expected that a higher volume of waste diversion would only add six more months of life at the current facility.