Our Mission
Friends of Toppenish Creek is dedicated to protecting the rights of rural communities and improving oversight of industrial agriculture. FOTC operates under the simple principle that all people deserve clean air, clean water and protection from abuse that results when profit is favored over people. FOTC works through public education, citizen investigations, research, legislation, special events, and direct action.
Friends of Toppenish Creek began in 2008 when neighbors banded together to prevent a mega-dairy from relocating along the banks of Toppenish Creek. The group was successful and went on to incorporate. Since then, FOTC has:
- Collaborated with other environmental groups to argue for a stronger WA National Pollution Discharge Elimination System Permit for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations
- Participated in the Lower Yakima Valley Groundwater Management Area and appealed the certification of that program
- Conducted research on pesticides, dioxins, and furans in the Lower Yakima Basin
- Conducted research on ammonia emissions in the Lower Yakima Valley
- Requested a moratorium on manure spraying during inversions in the Lower Yakima Valley
- Appealed to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) External Civil Rights Compliance Office (ECRCO) and secured translation of YRCAA materials and notices into Spanish
- Made presentations to the WA Governor’s Interagency Council on Health Disparities regarding unequal treatment of people from Yakima County
- Made presentation and recommendation on the revision of WAC 246-203-130, Keeping of Animals
- Provided testimony to the WA State Department of Health and the WA State Department of Ecology regarding per- and polyfluorinated alkyl chemicals, PFAS in Yakima County
- Presented a bilingual forum in the Lower Yakima Valley based on the Clean Drinking Water Project
Learn About FOTC's Appeal to the WA State Pollution Control Hearings Board Regarding Certification of the Lower Yakima Valley Groundwater Management Area
Friends of Toppenish Creek Needs your help! Please consider joining us.
Groundwater levels are dropping. Will there be adequate water for your children and grandchildren to use in their daily lives?
Is the Lower Yakima Valley water quality hazardous to your and your children’s health now and in the future?
What can we do to limit the mega dairies from polluting the air and the water supplies?
Is there a way to stop the over application of dairy manure to our lower valley lands?
Why should a 75 year old WA state law which says livestock has unlimited water not be challenged in these modern times of population and agrarian growth?
Please contact us through www.friendsoftoppenishcreek.org or by phone at 509-874-2798
Lower Valley GWMA Budget Discussion
September 17, 2014 - The Lower Yakima Valley Groundwater Management Area was created in 2012 to address pollution of groundwater with nitrates. Various studies have found that 12% t0 20% of wells in the area have nitrates higher than the safe level -10mg/L. In the interest of keeping the public well informed, Friends of the Toppenish Creek will post videos of the ground water management committee meetings. These videos are from August 21, 2014, recorded at Radio KDNA in Granger WA. The purpose of this meeting was to... Read More »
Chief Sealth's Words
August 06, 2012 - Chief Sealth's Words - 1854
Yonder sky that has wept tears of compassion upon my people for centuries untold, and which to us appears changeless and eternal, may change. Today is fair. Tomorrow it may be overcast with clouds.
My words are like the stars that never change. Whatever Seattle says, the great chief at Washington can rely upon with as much certainty as he can upon the return of the sun or the seasons.
The white chief says that Big Chief at Washington sends us greetings of friendship ... Read More »