Solid Waste

What is solid waste?

In a practical sense, solid waste is almost anything a person wants to dispose of, except for dangerous/hazardous waste, or radiological waste.  The regulations define solid waste as “all putrescible and non-putrescible solid and semisolid wastes including, but not limited to, garbage, rubbish, ashes, industrial wastes, swill, sewage sludge, demolition and construction wastes, abandoned vehicles or parts thereof, contaminated soils and contaminated dredged material, and recyclable materials.”  Most people use the general term “garbage”.

Site Complaints

To submit a complaint about a facility or if you have a concern about a specific property owner or have neighborhood issues regarding garbage or animal feces, please contact our Environmental Health Help Desk at 509-249-6508 or by emailing the EH Help Desk.  Please be prepared to provide the address where the problem is, the specifics of the complaint, and your contact information for follow-up.  All complaints are confidential.

Petroleum Contaminated Soil Remediation Approvals

***DTG Recycling is not currently accepting Petroleum Contaminated Soil (PCS)***

The DTG Recycling Petroleum Contamination Soil (PCS) Remediation Facility takes soils that have been contaminated with petroleum (gas, diesel, oil, mineral oil, etc.).  They then treat the soils until the levels of petroleum are below the clean-up levels.  All batches of petroleum contaminated soils must be approved by the Yakima Health District prior to being transported to the DTG Recycling PCS Remediation Facility.

To get an approval for remediation of petroleum contaminated soil at the DTG Recycling PCS Facility, you need to contact the Yakima Health District for an approval.  Information needed for approval includes:

Name and contact information of the person requesting the approval

Name and contact information of the company that person works for (if applicable)

The site address that the soil will be coming from

A brief history of how the contamination came to be at the site

The test data on those soils*

A Yakima Health District staff person may call for more information and more soils testing may be needed depending on the individual circumstances regarding the site.  The Yakima Health District charges fees for these approvals.  These fees are independent of and in addition to any fees collected by the DTG Recycling PCS Remediation Facility.

*At a minimum, the levels of petroleum in the soil are required.  Testing for substances other than petroleum may be needed based on the history of the site.  Petroleum levels in the soil may exceed the clean-up levels, but no other contaminants can exceed their respective Model Toxic Control Act (MTCA) levels.  Contact the Yakima Health District, Environmental Health Division to request an approval.

Solid Waste Facilities

 
The Solid Waste program is responsible for permitting and inspection of solid waste handling facilities in Yakima County.  There are many types of solid waste facilities including:

            Municipal Solid Waste Landfills

            Composting Facilities (many composting facilities are exempt from permitting)

            Land Application Facilities

            Energy Recovery and Incineration Facilities

            Anaerobic Digesters (many anaerobic digesters are exempt from solid waste permitting)

            Intermediate Solid Waste Handling Facilities

            Piles Used For Storage or Treatment

            Waste Tire Storage (when over 800 passenger tires, or equivalent weight)

            Moderate Risk Waste Handling

            Limited Purpose Landfills

            Inert Waste Landfills

Regular inspections are done for each permitted facility.  Enforcement action is taken, as necessary, on permitted facilities and on complaint sites to assure compliance with appropriate regulations.

Biosolids

Biosolids are the residual solids from municipal sewage treatment plants.  After treatment and testing they are used for fertilizer on crops such as hops, wheat, corn, alfalfa etc.  This process has been determined to be the safest and most beneficial use of this material by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.  The Washington State Department of Ecology issues biosolids permits.  The Yakima Health District assists Ecology with inspections of the stockpile and application areas.  You can also view more biosolids information:

Biosolids Management (PDF) - Chapter 173-308, WAC

Northwest Biosolids Management Association

Electronics Recycling Sites

Electronic, such as computers, computer monitors, televisions, etc. may be recycled by taking them to an approved electronic recycling center.  For a list of electronic recycling sites:  E-Cycle Washington - Registered Collectors

Other Resources

Public Waste Disposal Sites

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Biologic and Infectious Waste Information

Solid Waste Handling Standards (PDF) - Chapter 173-350, WAC

Criteria for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills (PDF) - Chapter 173-351, WAC