The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ordered the operator of a scrap tire facility in Logan County, Ohio, to remove and properly dispose of more than 100,000 scrap tires from three acres of land.
Rodney Burnside II, doing business as Freedom Recycling & Recovery, has been given 120 days to complete the cleanup.
The Ohio EPA says its most recent action follows attempts by the Logan County Health District last year to get the property cleaned up. The Health District had identified what it calls numerous violations during an inspection on Aug. 11, 2014, as well as a follow-up joint inspection that the Health District, conducted along with the Ohio EPA on Sept. 4, 2014.
At its board meeting, held on April 1, 2015, the Health District voted to ask Ohio EPA for assistance in addressing the scrap tires located on the property.
The orders require Burnside to remove at least 20,000 tires every 30 days until all of the tires are removed. In the interim, Burnside is required to treat the tires to control mosquitoes and establish proper storage pile sizes and fire lanes.
The Ohio EPA says the property, owned by Randall Middaugh, is not validly registered, permitted or licensed as a scrap tire collection, storage or recovery facility, or as a landfill.
If recipients of scrap tire abatement orders fail to comply with the orders, Ohio EPA can hire a contractor to remove and dispose of the tires. If the state steps in to remove the scrap tires, funding for the cleanup would come from Ohio’s scrap tire fund.