Resident urges Yakima County to adopt 'no out‑of‑county waste' ordinance for Caton Landfill

Pam Wickersham of Yakima County used the public comment period at the April 8 meeting to urge the Yakima County Board of Commissioners to adopt a no out‑of‑county waste ordinance and to review operations at the Caton Landfill.

Wickersham said she had provided two documents to the clerk the previous day: a 2010 Yakima Waste Systems letter and a 2010 letter from the Washington Refuse and Recycling Association. She told the board she had not observed chains across the landfill gates or postings indicating unpermitted work and said the documents raise longstanding concerns about acceptance practices and the environmental risks of unlined disposal sites. "We do not believe it is environmentally acceptable practice to increase access or capacity of unlined landfills," she said, quoting the materials she submitted.

Wickersham described what she called "sham recycling," in which commercial recyclables are collected by entities that do not hold authority from the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission or municipal contracts, and then transported to landfills with lower tipping fees. She said the Caton Landfill is part of the Yakima County Solid Waste System and argued the facility should be "held to the highest operating and environmental standards."

She asked the commissioners to adopt a no out‑of‑county waste ordinance. "Once again, I'm encouraged Yakima County to do the right thing and adopt a no out of county waste, ordinance, please," Wickersham said.

Clerk Julie Lawrence told the board the documents were forwarded to commissioners through the clerk of the board. No formal action or response by the board to Wickersham’s request was recorded in the meeting transcript.

Why it matters: Wickersham framed the request as an environmental and regulatory concern affecting county‑owned solid waste operations. The board did not take action on the request during the April 8 meeting; any policy response would require further consideration and, if pursued, a formal ordinance process.