Yakima County officials: Caton Landfill north of Naches is conducting illegal mining

There are more concerns at Caton Landfill than a series of fires there that led to the temporary suspension of its operating permit, Yakima County official say.

County Planning Official Tommy Carroll said the company is commercially mining gravel illegally in its disposal cell, a practice that could be contributing to the ongoing fires there.

“Our opinion is the mining and working outside the boundaries of their permit is a contributing factor to that fire,” Carroll said.

But Caton Landfill officials disagree, saying they’re only excavating topsoil and loose material and that doesn’t constitute mining.

The landfill is north of Naches at 1500 Naches-Wenas Road.

Carroll said he’s received several complaints from residents over the years about the landfill operating outside its permitted hours, increased truck traffic and dust.

In 2019, Carroll notified the company that it was mining illegally and that it should stop. Later, he issued a code violation seeking to revoke Caton’s land-use permit and assess fines. Landfill officials appealed to a hearing examiner, who upheld the violation.

Landfill officials then took the matter to Benton County Superior Court, where a lawsuit is pending.

Landfill manager Randy Caton declined to comment on the matter, but information about his company’s position was obtained from the lawsuit.

Permitting confusion

Complicating the matter are layers of permits involving the county’s planning department, the Yakima Health District and the state Department of Ecology.

Caton Landfill received its initial permit for a demolition landfill in 1997 from the county and the health district.

The county regulates land use while the health district oversees operations. Ecology provides the health district with assistance and oversight support.

In 2005, the Legislature updated regulations involving landfills, establishing limited purpose landfills, or LPLs, which are allowed to accept construction waste. Caton officials updated their permits with the health district and Ecology, but not the county.

This is where confusion arises, Carroll said.

In the lawsuit, Caton officials said they were told by the health district and Ecology that they were operating within the scope of their permit.

They said the excavating of topsoil and loose material was an accessory practice of the landfill.

According to the hearing examiner’s ruling, the company did admit it sold aggregate material mined for the development of a disposal cell, but that ended in 2019 before the county issued the violation.

Carroll said the land-use permit never allowed for any mining of any kind. He said the land-use permit called for the company to fill in a ravine on the property with construction waste, compact it and cover it with dirt.

Before any mining could be occur, the county would have to approve a mineral overlay to the property, Carroll said.

After that, the company would have to seek approval for a mining permit.

Last month county commissioners denied the landfill a mineral resource overlay designation. It was the second denial in as many years.

Carroll said the county cannot modify any permits or land designations until the court matter is resolved.

“They either stop the mining or somehow get an order from the court,” he said. “They’re digging and they were never supposed to dig.”

Fires

Canton Landfill resumed operations Tuesday, after being shut down for more than a month.

The health district suspended its operating permit in mid-December because fires kept flaring up in the disposal cell.

Air monitors were installed and it was learned that there were not threats to public health. The health district reinstated the operating permit after company officials devised a workplan that involved identifying the cause of the ongoing fire and prevention and suppression methods.

Carroll believes mining is contributing to the blaze. He said waste is being dumped into one side of the disposal cell while mining is occurring in the other side.

This practice inhibits the ability to fully compact the waste and cover it with dirt. Oxygen is able to enter the waste as a result and causes spontaneous combustion.

Shawn Magee, director of environmental health for the health district, said he didn’t know how much mining was contributing to the fire.

Waste was piled high with steep slopes without compaction and dirt cover, he said. That allowed oxygen into the waste and cause spontaneous combustion, Magee said.

Oxygen and carbon monoxide levels are now decreasing, meaning the fire is decreasing, he said.

The health district and Ecology are monitoring the landfill, Magee said.

Carroll said he’s waiting for a hearing on the matter to be scheduled. He said it’s unfair to allow one company to avoid the permitting process and regulations other companies are required to abide by them to operate.

“It undermines all of the industry and everything,” he said. “It’s just an unfair advantage.”