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News Release 036
DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES ANNOUNCES LARGEST REMAINING TIRE DUMP IN STATE IS NOW CLEAN
Volume 35-036 |
Contact: Renee Bungart |
(For immediate release) |
573-751-4465 |
JEFFERSON CITY, MO, JAN. 24, 2007 -- The Missouri Department of Natural Resources announced the Bishop Scrap Tire Site, located in Cass County, has been cleaned up. The site was the largest remaining tire dump in the state. The cleanup effort on the site, which is almost 30 years old, began last May.
In total, more than 800,000 tires were removed from the site. TRI-Rinse of St. Louis removed most of those tires. The tires were shredded for use as replacement for a gravel leachate collection layer in a landfill. Leachate is moisture that has seeped through waste. The layer of shredded tires will act as a filter to keep the waste out of the leachate so that it can be safely collected for treatment. Missouri Vocational Enterprises removed the remaining tires, which will be used as tire-derived fuel in a power plant.
Missouri's Scrap Tire Fee funded the tire cleanup. Retailers collect a 50-cent fee for every new tire purchased in Missouri. The scrap tire fee generates approximately $2.1 million annually.
More than 14 million tires have been cleaned up from more than 600 illegal tire dumps in Missouri since the scrap tire program began in 1990. The department estimates there are 350,000 tires remaining to be cleaned up and possibly one million tires located in unknown dumpsites. The department recently began a program called the Tire Dump Roundup, which allows qualified individuals to self-report tire dumps and get them cleaned up for free.
"With the news that the Bishop site is completely cleaned up, now we can focus on the Tire Dump Roundup program to remove most, if not all, tire dumps from Missouri's environment," said Department of Natural Resources Director Doyle Childers.
Jim Robbins, a Kansas City area scrap tire hauler, began accumulating tires on the Bishop site in the 1980s. Robbins planned to cover the tires with rock from the quarry. However, the first scrap tire law was enacted in 1990 making the site an illegal tire dump and preventing him from covering the tires. In 2005, the department reached settlements with Mr. Robbins and the property owners for the cleanup of the tires.
When scrap tires are not disposed of or recycled properly they pose serious threats to human health and the environment. Water sitting in waste tires creates an ideal breeding environment for mosquitoes, which can equal up to 1 million mosquitoes per tire during a breeding season. Fires from waste tires release hazardous substances into the air and possibly into groundwater sources and can burn for months or even years.
When Missourians dispose of or recycle scrap tires properly they can provide several beneficial uses, including an alternate source of fuel for power plants, rubberized asphalt, playgrounds, running tracks, walking trails and other recycled rubber products.
The Scrap Tire Fee is set to expire Jan. 1, 2010. The department will report the status of the tire cleanups to the General Assembly by Jan. 1, 2009 so they may consider renewal options for the fee.
For more information on the Tire Dump Roundup program or other solid waste issues, please contact the department's Solid Waste Management Program at 573-751-5401.
For news releases on the Web, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel. For a complete listing of the department's upcoming meetings, hearings and events, visit the department's online calendar at www.dnr.mo.gov/calendar/search.do.
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