Oregon landfills would have to improve methane monitoring and reporting under a bill being considered by the state Legislature. Sen. Sara Gelser Blouin, D-Corvallis, introduced the bill in response to ongoing concerns about methane releases at Coffin Butte Landfill, near Adair Village.
In 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found Coffin Butte was leaking methane at levels that exceed state and federal limits and what the landfill had publicly reported. EPA investigators returned in 2024 and found more than 40 locations where methane exceeded limits, including at holes in the cover material.
鈥淲hat this bill talks about is how we are able to track and measure the amount of methane that is leaking from our landfills,鈥� Gelser Blouin said Monday during a hearing on the bill. 鈥淲e want to encourage the use of these advanced technologies so that we can get more accurate information about specifically where leaks might be.鈥�