Michigan AG Sentences Tire Recycler

The state of Michigan’s Attorney General Mike Cox announced the sentencing of Alternative Fuels, L.L.C. of Barryton, Mich., in a case involving violations of the state’s Scrap Tire Act and also the pleas and sentencings of both the company and one of its member-owners, Mashelle Sager, in a separate case involving violations of the Scrap Tire Act.

"Through its failure to comply with the Scrap Tire Act, Alternative Fuels posed a serious safety danger to the people of Barryton. Alternative Fuels and Ms. Sager have rightfully been held criminally responsible for their recklessness," Cox said.

Cox also noted that Alternative Fuels' operating registration was recently suspended by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality as a result of the company's failure to properly manage its scrap tire collection site, thereby increasing the chances that it could catch fire and threaten the Village of Barryton and the ecosystem of the Chippewa River. Cox has filed an administrative complaint with the State Office of Administrative Hearings and Rules on behalf of the DEQ in this matter.

In the first case, Judge Susan Grant of the 77th District Court in Big Rapids sentenced the company to a fine of $25,200. This past August, Alternative Fuels, L.L.C. pled no contest to charges related to the improper storage and transportation of scrap tires. Those charges were the result of a December 2004 inspection of the site by the Department of Environmental Quality. The inspection of the site led to the discovery of numerous violations including the company's failure to comply with maximum tire pile sizes, failure to comply with minimum separation requirements, failure to establish clear lanes that would allow emergency vehicles access to the site, and failure to maintain proper records regarding the transportation of scrap tires to the site.

In a separate matter also before Judge Grant, Alternative Fuels pled guilty to ten charges and Mashelle Sager pled no contest to one charge for failure to maintain proper records regarding the storage and transportation of scrap tires. In April 2005, the DEQ conducted a follow-up visit to the Alternative Fuels site and observed violations of the Scrap Tire Act that were similar to those found during the site's previous inspection in December 2004.

On the second set of charges, Judge Grant ordered Alternative Fuels, L.L.C. to pay a fine of $25,200. Mashelle Sager received two years probation and a 90-day suspended jail sentence. She was also ordered to pay a fine of $1,535.