The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is preparing a plant that is designed to abate all noncompliant waste tire stockpiles in the state by the end of 2010. the NY DEC is expected to have the comprehensive plan by Sept. 12.
The program seeks abatement, first through voluntary efforts were feasible, and by direct action by the DEC where voluntary plans are not possible.
The policy comes under the Waste Tire Management and Recycling Act of 2003. Under that act, the state enacted a waste tire management and recycling fee of $2.50 per tire sold.
In the process to develop the plan to eliminate all tire piles from the state, representatives from the DEC visited 162 locations in the state that were identified as potential waste tire stockpiles which resulted in the documentation of 95 noncompliant waste tire stockpiles.
The office estimates that there are around 29 million waste tires currently stored in this 95 sites. Of those sites, five of the largest offenders had a total of close to 25 million tires, roughly 85 percent of the tires.
The five companies are the following: Fortino Site, West Monroe; Mohawk Tire Recycling, Waterford; Hornburg Tire, Sinclairville; New York Tire/Izzo Property, Smithtown; and Cycletech, Hudson.
According to the DEC, a priority list for abatement of each noncompliant waste tire stockpile was developed by establishing criteria to assess potential adverse impacts on public health, safety or welfare, the environment, or natural resources.
After consideration of a wide array of potential factors, the following eight criteria were selected to evaluate each of the 95 noncompliant waste tire stockpiles in an effort to formulate an abatement priority list:
• number of waste tires on site;
• location over a primary aquifer;
• proximity to Class C or higher streams (located within 250 meters);
• proximity to regulated State wetlands (located within 250 meters);
• location within a potential environmental justice area;
• proximity to schools (located within 1 kilometer);
• proximity to hospitals (located within 1 kilometer); and
• proximity to population centers (located within 1 kilometer).
In the event the DEC must assume abatement responsibility, DEC will seek beneficial uses for the tires. At the present time, DEC is developing plans to use waste tires in road construction activities in cooperation with the New York State Department of Transportation and the New York State Thruway Authority to beneficially use the bulk of the waste tires. DEC recognizes that additional waste tire stockpile sites may be identified during the next few years. If this occurs, DEC will assess these noncompliant waste tire stockpiles as they are identified, determine their priority for cleanup, and incorporate them into the abatement schedule.