Environmental groups threaten to sue Grabhorn landfill

UPDATE: Grabhorn rep says planned lawsuit based on ‘faulty information’

By Kevin Harden

LocalNewsDaily.com, Jan 25, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (10 Reader comments)

file photo / Times Newspapers

Howard Grabhorn has operated his Lakeside Reclamation Landfill in Washington County since the late 1950s. Two environmental groups have threatened to sue Grabhorn and his company because of water discharges.

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The Northwest Environmental Defense Center and Friends of the Tualatin Wildlife Refuge said Jan. 24 that they plan to sue the owner of Lakeside Reclamation Landfill because of water flowing from holding ponds into a creek leading to the Tualatin River.

Officials with the groups told Howard Grabhorn, owner of the landfill, that they would take legal action because the landfill does not have a permit to allow stormwater to flow into the creek, and eventually to the river.

The groups’ lawsuit probably will be filed in U.S. District Court in about 60 days.

Grabhorn did not return a telephone call seeking comment on the lawsuit.

His representative, Larry D. Harvey of Pac/West Communications in Wilsonville, said the planned lawsuit was based on faulty information gathered during a hasty Department of Environmental Quality inspection of the landfill in early January. The inspection led to an “erroneous” violation letter, which could be the basis for the lawsuit, Harvey said.

“This incident was the result of a hurried-up investigation,” he said. “The pipe they’re talking about is capped. It was capped at Mr. Grabhorn’s request.”

‘Don’t have accurate information’

Grabhorn’s Lakeside Reclamation Landfill began operating in 1957 on land southwest of Beaverton and west of Bull Mountain. The landfill covers 33 acres of the 126.2 acres owned by Grabhorn’s family.

According to DEQ records, the landfill is expected to cover 43 acres when it reaches capacity.

The landfill accepts mostly construction demolition waste. DEQ allowed the landfill to take non-hazardous industrial waste sludge from Tektronix.

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