Kristoffer Strutner

Publicly asserted in a Yakima Herald-Republic interview published July 20, 2026 that Yakima County has for many years knowingly run its Terrace Heights landfill out of compliance with air-quality standards for methane, and said he had asked the Department of Ecology and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to act on it without result, and that the county's new gas extraction system installed in 2025 does not solve the problem.

July 20, 2026Supports Environment and Public Health

Source: yakimaherald.com · researched July 30, 2026

Washington's Department of Ecology issued a final determination naming Strutner a potentially liable person for hazardous substances released at the Caton Limited Purpose Landfill near Naches. His own air sample showed benzene at 12,700 parts per billion, far above state limits, and Ecology found he helped operate the landfill while it was unpermitted.

August 22, 2025

Source: apps.ecology.wa.gov · researched July 30, 2026

The state Pollution Control Hearings Board upheld the Yakima Health District's denial of the Caton Landfill's solid waste permit on April 14, 2025, finding the landfill he operated had accepted campers, boats and whole tires outside its permit, operated outside approved boundaries, failed to provide adequate closure financial assurance, was out of compliance with its Yakima Regional Clean Air Agency air permit, and reported accepting waste up to 817% beyond the 2022 permitted volume; the landfill stopped accepting waste that day.

April 14, 2025

Source: yakimaherald.com · researched July 30, 2026