Residents press Yakima County on out-of-county waste; others deliver 'assembly' notice in public comment

Several members of the public addressed the Yakima County Board of Commissioners during the March 18, 2025 public comment period, urging the county to act on out-of-county waste and delivering a separate notice about a self-declared local assembly.

Pam Wickersham, who identified herself as a Yakima County resident, urged the board to adopt a "no out of county waste" ordinance. Wickersham said she was "speaking for the second time in support of a no out of county waste ordinance" and told commissioners that Department of Ecology (DOE) officials had suggested the ordinance as an option.

Wickersham told the board she reviewed an annual report for the county's limited purpose landfill (a DOE-regulated document labeled 2022 in her remarks) and said the landfill's total intake was 462,557 cubic yards, of which she said 410,900 cubic yards came from Canada. "Remember my premise is Canadian waste is a problem, a large problem," Wickersham said. She also said the original permit allowed 50,000 cubic yards and that she had a photograph showing truck staging patterns.

Two other speakers, Donna Nurse and Diana Eissinger, used their time to deliver a notice they described as a "notice of covenant of resettlement and reclamation" on behalf of a group calling itself the Yakima County Assembly. Their remarks recited a lengthy preamble and asserted a reclaimed "republican form of government," citing foundational U.S. documents and portions of the Washington State Constitution; they concluded by stating they had "completed our process of claim and settlement according to our founding documents."

The board did not take action on the public comments during the meeting. The public comment period was closed before the board moved on to the consent agenda and regular business.