Environmental Justice and the Fight Over Sunnyside’s Biodigester

The fight over Sunnyside’s proposed biodigester is about more than infrastructure.

It’s about who gets a voice — and who bears the burden.

 

A Familiar Pattern

The Lower Yakima Valley is no stranger to environmental pressure.

Surrounded by concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), pesticide use, and existing air and water quality challenges, the region already carries a heavy environmental load. Now, the proposed biodigester threatens to deepen that burden.

And it’s happening in a community that is:

• Predominantly Latino
• Largely low-income
• Primarily Spanish-speaking

For many, this raises a difficult but necessary question:

Would a project like this be placed in a wealthier, predominantly white community?

Constructing this biodigester in Sunnyside is compounding the environmental racism that has already been pushed on the community via concentrated animal feeding operations. It is a further example of how community voices are left out. 

Community Left Out

One of the most striking issues is how little the public was informed.

Early outreach revealed that most residents — even those living closest to the proposed site — had no understanding of the project’s existence or its potential impacts.

Even more concerning:

• Information was not widely available in Spanish
• Communication was limited and difficult to access
• Public engagement came only after community groups stepped in

This isn’t just a communication gap — it’s an attempt to construct a major industrial project without the public’s knowledge. 

 

Posted May 13, 2026

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