A wood-treating conglomerate enmeshed in pollution disputes around the county has leased 35 acres in west Eugene, but says it will use the land only for storing wood poles, not for soaking them in toxic chemicals.
The acreage is a former landfill where the state has banned construction of enclosed buildings because of methane gas emitted by the buried, rotting garbage.
Koppers Holdings, a NYSE-traded utility-pole and railroad-tie treating giant, on Dec. 22, 2025, leased the empty acreage off West 1st Avenue near Randy Pape Beltline, records show. The lease gives Koppers an option to buy the property, which is part of the former Lane Plywood Cooperative mill…