Friends of Rocky Top

Friends of Rocky Top (FORT) is a grassroots group of Rocky Top neighbors, businesses, organizations and recreationalists, who are concerned with the environmental degradation arising from DTG activities and the lack of investigation and transparency by the Yakima Health District, Yakima Code Enforcement and the Yakima Regional Clean Air Agency to hold DTG accountable to ensure they operate in compliance with the law and in a safe manner.

Due, in part, to the work done by Friends of Rocky Top and the Cowiche Canyon Conservancy to bring the litter problem to the attention of local regulators, DTG agreed to hire trash pickers. Hikers still see plastic on the sagebrush, but it is far less noticeable.

In 2020, neighbors and trail users also noticed strong and persistent odors harsh enough to induce nausea and headaches. Friends of Rocky Top continued to raise odor concerns with local regulators, including providing them with independent methane and thermal imaging testing, showing heat and methane releases. In December 2021 regulators required independent air and soil gas testing, which discovered toxic gasses coming from the landfill. These harmful gasses were confirmed by sampling in July 2022, leading Ecology to declare part of the landfill a toxic cleanup site under Washington State's Model Toxic Control Act. Under an Agreed Order with Ecology, DTG is required to fund the work necessary to investigate and remediate this situation. The work to clean up the toxic site is complicated by the presence of a pre-existing landfill fire. The method chosen to put out the fire was to add significant amounts of soil on top of the landfill, focusing on the known fissures where gasses and heat were venting. While the soil smother approach was partially successful, relatively high oxygen levels continue to hamper fire remediation and cleanup efforts.

This is concerning for neighbors because the landfill is unlined. Instead of the standard liner of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) geomembrane and clay layer, regulatory agencies initially approved an alternative liner of compacted soil on top of natural soils, known geologically as the Vantage Interbed. In the spring of 2022, DTG excavators penetrated this layer, damaging the natural soil layer and potentially increasing the risk of groundwater contamination.

As part of DTG's mining operation, periodic bedrock blasting occurs, and in early 2022, this blasting activity was so intensive it damaged a few neighbors' homes. The excavation of the Vantage Interbed, the periodic blasting, the tendency for landfill fires to create leachate and the inadequate two-well groundwater monitoring system (permitted in 2007) increased neighbors' concern about potential groundwater contamination. All landfill neighbors rely on wells for drinking water, and are very concerned about the landfill’s threat to the groundwater system. Because of these concerns, Friends of Rocky Top brought the inadequacies of DTG's groundwater monitoring system to the attention of local regulators who required DTG to line future landfill cells and to drill more monitoring wells in early 2022. DTG finally complied and drilled the required new wells in 2024. When Friends of Rocky Top learned soils contaminated with PFAS  were remediated and disposed of at the Anderson landfill, we requested DTG be required to add PFAS to their required quarterly groundwater monitoring sampling.