A lot has changed since 1983 when Metro South transfer station opened in Oregon City.
Over the decades, population growth, increases in consumption, and greater public demand for recycling and hazardous waste collection options have pushed the facility to operate beyond its capacity.
Today, it sees a daily average of 860 customers – that’s commercial trash haulers, small businesses and individual households. People who rely on it to safely send garbage on to landfill and recyclable materials to be processed.
To meet our region’s increasing garbage and recycling needs, Metro is working with local governments, community partners, customers, businesses and local residents to help determine where a new facility could go in northern Clackamas County – and how it might differ from the current one.
Q&A with project manager Estee Segal
Estee Segal is the Metro project manager responsible for coordinating the property search and community engagement efforts. She shares her thoughts in a Q&A on this initial planning phase.
Q. What can you say about the possible location for the new facility?
A. To date, we’ve looked at about 160 potential sites that meet the criteria for minimum acreage and zoning.
View the engagement map
Metro is looking at locations in the main industrial and commercial areas in and around North Clackamas County and small portions of Southeast Multnomah County. The siting area – for what will be called the Metro South recycling and transfer center – encompasses approximately 50 square miles within the Metro boundary.
This area includes the cities of Gladstone, Johnson City, Milwaukie and Oregon City, as well as portions of Happy Valley, Southeast Portland and unincorporated Clackamas County.
The high demand for self-haul services guides this project. We are searching for a new site along the major transportation corridors and population centers near the existing Metro South transfer station in Oregon City.
Q. What excites you most about planning for the future of recycling and garbage service in Clackamas County?
A. In addition to building a modern, efficient and sustainable new facility, I am most excited to explore community educational opportunities at a new facility. We may be able to incorporate programming about the entire life cycle of products we consume and how we can increase resource conservation.
I’m also excited about making it much easier to separate items at the facility for reuse, repair and possibly resale. Exploring opportunities to partner with established community reuse and repair non-profit organizations will be great too.