If a person dumps his old tires on the outskirts of town rather than disposing of them properly, he is considered a criminal.
“Transporting more than 10 scrap tires without being a registered transporter, open burning or open dumping of scrap tires may be prosecuted as a felony offense in Ohio with a fine of at least $10,000 or imprisonment or both,” the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s website states.
Tire dumping has been a problem in Athens for the past 30 to 50 years, said Mike Cooper of the Environmental Health branch of the Athens City-County Health Department. Dumping tires is a state crime because tires are considered solid waste.
Kathy Jacobson, RN steward of The Broadwell Hill Learning Center and Sustainable Stewardship Station, added that the problem also exists nationwide.
The root of the tire problem could be that Athens residents fail to properly dispose of their tires when getting a tire change on their cars to avoid paying a fee, she said. Landfill disposal fees can be expensive.
“So many folks in our area are short on money (and) will not pay that charge,” Jacobson said. “They dispose (of the tires) independently on a hillside, (in a) creek, et cetera.”
The rural land could also be a contributing factor to the improper disposal of tires, Cooper said.
Though there are many potential causes, it is important to focus on finding solutions to the problem, Cooper said. For example, the Health Department works with the EPA, highway departments and townships to recycle the tires if the offenders cannot be identified.
However, if the tire dumpers can be identified, they will be taken to court, he added.
Along with recycling old tires, businesses have been known to shred tires or make benches out of them, Jacobson said.
However, a permit from the EPA is required to use tires, Cooper said.
The process of producing something useful out of waste materials is known as ‘upcycling.’ One Athens resident, Brian Deviney, upcycles tires in his backyard, using them for gardening and composting.
“The tires, along with the compost and horse pasture topsoil I used, turned out to work really well,” he said in an email.
Jacobson said that although the tires are not good for the ecosystem, she does not believe they will cause major problems for the soil. Therefore, it should be safe for Deviney to garden with them.
Though there are many possible solutions to tire dumping, it is still imperative that they are disposed of properly, because every problem the tires cause is “interconnected with everything else,” Jacobson said.
kf398711@ohiou.edu
