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Residents who live near DTG raised similar concerns over a lack of communication. In February, Friends of Rocky Top was established with the purpose of holding DTG (and facility regulators) accountable. Since 2020, neighbors have sent in hundreds of complaints to the Yakima Health District and the state’s Department of Ecology regarding a wide range of concerns, with trash and odor as the most common topics.

CCC Executive Director Celisa Hopkins said she’s heard from plenty of trail users as well, many of whom wonder what’s going to happen to the system of more than 15 miles located primarily on DTG’s land. Hopkins said she’s regularly in contact with DTG. Hopkins declined to discuss the details of these conversations but said that the goal was to preserve the trails and respect the need to provide safety for the public around construction.

“Our mission as an organization is to protect shrub steppe, and this trail system is an important community asset,” Hopkins said. “So the conversations with them are around what can we protect that’s still intact at the trail system and how can we work with them in that way?”

Multiple requests for comment were not answered by DTG, except to say that it is operating within its permit.

Land ownership

Rocky Top is home of the Single Track Alliance of Yakima, which began building its trail system in 2011 and has a wide range of ownership and management partners.

STAY maintains the trails of CCC. CCC holds a conservation easement on some of the land through the Horse Trail. STAY built the Walk N Roll trail in the southeast section with permission from the city of Yakima on 39 acres it owns south of the CCC’s easement, and further west, the William O. Douglas Trail Foundation also holds a conservation easement.

The Rocky Top trails are located on land DTG bought from Ron Anderson in January 2020. This was when DTG bought his limited-purpose landfill. It is permitted to salvage or recycle concrete and asphalt, metal, plastic, and wood waste. Anderson gave STAY permission for its trails to be built, giving them a lot of freedom and keeping them out of the way. Anderson should not to be confused with Yakima County Commissioner Ron Anderson.

That all began to change in September 2020, when DTG closed the Gus’s Gully trail, followed by a partial closure of the popular Wholly Moses trail a few months later. STAY President Pat Huwe, and Vice President Will Hollingbery stated that the most significant closure was made recently on the upper section of the Ha Ha Ha Ha Trail, which is a key connector on top of the William O. Douglas Trail.

Amanda McKinney is the county commissioner for the district. She supports the CCC financially, and considers herself to be a Rocky Top trail user. According to her, DTG expressed its strong commitment to allowing trails onto its property in the foreseeable future during conversations with her over a year.

“Not only that, but when I met with them, they said that as they expand operations over time that they want to also extend the trail opportunities,” McKinney said. “They also indicated to me that when they are finally approved to formally cap each cell, that they would look to the conservancy for guidance and advice on what native plants that they would like to see planted.”

FORT consultant Scott Cave shared email correspondence from Ecology, the Yakima Health District and DTG showing the company, which announced its intent to “operate the largest Material Recovery Facility in the region” in 2019, can’t move on to its next cell until it meets certain requirements to address various regulation concerns. Hopkins and Hollingbery said it’s unclear how that cell would affect trails.

Hollingbery said DTG told him the trails wouldn’t be harmed for another 40 years, so it came as a surprise when they cut off access to Wholly Moses for a second time, forcing him to build a quick reroute. Huwe stated that they plan to repair the trail this fall to bring it back to its original length and in a more sustainable location.

“We’ve never really run into a situation out there when we have to go around an obstacle that the trail doesn’t get better a second time,” Huwe said. “The new one will be enjoyable.”

Neighbor complaints

While many of DTG’s neighbors also share concerns about Rocky Top, they’re more focused on whether the company is following regulations and on potential health hazards they’ve observed on their own properties.

Carole DeGrave was the long-time owner a Pioneer Way house with property next to DTG. She became concerned when she noticed that work was increasing significantly in the early 2020s. Cave, a consultant with over 30 years of experience working with local governments in Eastern Washington regarding groundwater, was hired by DeGrave in April.

DeGrave began to notice sewage-like odors outside. This led her to keep a daily log in which she recorded the intensity of the smell. Records show other neighbors made similar complaints to the state’s Department of Ecology with Randy Abhold — the neighbor closest to the landfill’s pit — describing it as “smelling bleach and paint thinner all at once.”

Paul Herke, a landowner with 320 acres and an orchard near DTG, reported that pickers suffered headaches and nausea due to fumes in October 2021. It lasted about two days, most often in the morning. The smell would still be there, but it never got to that intensity.

“Sometimes it smells sort of rancid,” Herke said. “Definitely not like a mold. More like a foul decay.”

He and other neighbors were plagued by litter, especially during summer 2021. This litter spread to nearby Rocky Top Trails. Cave and Nancy Lust, a local resident, sent emails to the Yakima HeraldRepublic requesting DTG from Ecology and YHD to address their trash problems.

The company eventually hired someone to pick up litter and put up a fence to stop trash from blowing away its property. Lust and Hopkins stated that their efforts were successful.

DeGrave said the odors also haven’t been as bad this summer, mostly thanks to efforts to cover and tamp down toxic plumes from the landfill. Cave and others are also concerned that those chemicals could be causing other problems.

Uncertain future

McKinney said complaints from neighbors led her to speak to everyone involved in the hopes of improving communication, and Ecology’s James Rivard facilitated a meeting with representatives from FORT, DTG and the YHD in June.

Lust believes that effort to build trust brought about some progress, and she’s cautiously optimistic about DTG’s new local manager. FORT still has many unanswered questions because DTG works with regulators to ensure compliance.

“Honestly, I’m unsure about this company because part of me wants to believe that they are working towards making the environment a better place and really trying to recycle and do what’s right,” Lust said. “Then part of me just feels like ‘I don’t always believe what you say.’”

McKinney’s encouraged by the recent conversations between groups, and she’s confident DTG provides a net positive for Yakima. She advises all parties to talk more with each other, believing they’ll find they share many common goals.

Hollingbery spent countless hours building trails at Rocky Top and elsewhere, always keenly aware they wouldn’t last forever. Still, he wants them to last as long as possible, and Huwe said they’ll keep rebuilding trails and respecting private property restrictions.

Huwe also praised DTG for its help in keeping alive the dirt pump track located next to the closed Gus’s Gully trail. DTG pays the water rights and Huwe’s hoping STAY can deepen the relationship between the two entities to keep the trails in good condition.

Jacinto Nunez, an avid mountain biker since he moved to Yakima 2 1/2 years ago, said it’s been sad to see all the changes and what feels like more to come at Rocky Top. The views aren’t quite what they used to be thanks to DTG’s expansion, but he still appreciates the chance to go out anytime he can.

“I’ve been to the other (trails in Yakima) but by far I like this one, not just for the workout but just the hill itself,” Nunez said. “I come from the Tri-Cities and we had Badger Mountain over there, but Rocky Top has that same feeling for me. It’s a pretty special place.”