Company Closing 80 Acres of Rocky Top Trails in Yakima

Officials at DTG Recycle say they've decided to change development plans for a Limited Purpose Landfill or LPL at 41 Rocky Top Road. The plan will result in the unfortunate closure to a lot of Rocky Top trails. The officials say access to 80 acres of DTG land is now closed because of safety concerns. It's a decision made after the company received complaints from neighbors in the area.

Development didn't happen in the area in the past but it's happening now

A press release from the company says the previous owner "allowed a network of recreational trails to be developed on LPL land that at the time was believed to be an area of the LPL that would not be active for decades." After purchasing the facility DTG continued to support access to the trails even installing security cameras covering the trailhead parking lot to discourage break-ins and by sponsoring the 2022 Rocky Top Trail Run.

Concerns of neighbors lead to the change in plans

But company officials say as soon as they decided to expand into a specific area "neighbor complaints led to regulators requesting DTG to provide updated technical reports to supplement the data the facility permits were issued under, prior to placing waste in the Western Fill Area." The press release from DTG says regulators allowed "DTG to place waste to the south of the then-current fill area (“Southern Fill Area”) while the results of the new studies were analyzed."

officials say having to move into the Southern Fill Area caused safety concerns

Being prematurely moved into the "Southern Fill Area forced DTG to restrict access to part of the trail system due to public and operational safety." The press release says " because DTG was already forced to prematurely move into the Southern Fill Area, development will continue moving south and west of the Southern Fill Area, making it unsafe for recreational users to be in an area under active development."