“DEP is not going to allow these companies to ignore what is clearly their legal responsibility under the Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act,” Secretary Kathleen McGinty said during a visit to the state’s largest waste tire pile. “These companies brought thousands of tires to an unpermitted disposal site, and the time has come for them to be removed and disposed of properly. Fairness, competitiveness and the public’s right to a clean and healthy environment all demand that those actors be dealt with firmly and swiftly.”
The complaint asks the court to require each generator to remove its share of the waste tires that it brought to the site and to assess a civil penalty of $100 per day against any generator who fails to comply with the court’s order.
DEP was able to determine the names of some of the tire generators and the approximate number of tires taken to the Starr property by reviewing old records kept by the Starr family, which owned the waste tire pile.
Staff from DEP’s Northcentral Regional Office have been working on individual legal agreements with tire generators since April, getting agreements from 10 generators to remove a total of 130,000 tires at the generators’ expense. However, another 21 generators refused to cooperate, resulting in DEP’s legal action.
The General Assembly appropriated $6.8 million in the 2004-05 budget to DEP for the cleanup of scrap tires, including $2 million secured specifically for work at the Starr Tire Pile. That funding is essential to DEP’s aggressive effort to clean up the site and make responsible generators remove waste tires that accumulated at the property in the mid-1980s.
A legal agreement signed in March 2004 by DEP and the Starrs granted the agency unrestricted access to the Starr property and required the Starrs to pay a $400,000 civil penalty.
In addition, DEP’s Office of Energy and Technology Development currently is reviewing proposals from private industry to beneficially reuse some of the waste tires, and the department has launched a new Starr Waste Tire Reuse Grant Program to help fund projects that will create markets for the use of waste tires.
The grant program will fund projects that create new products from used tires that are stockpiled in Pennsylvania, while improving the environment, supporting economic development and enhancing quality of life. The department is particularly interested in supporting proposals that are market-driven, create jobs and generate economic development within the state.
The following generators have been identified in the legal action:
Blue Chip Transport – Exton, Chester County
Borino Tire – Pittston, Luzerne County
Borino’s OK Tire Inc. – Kingston, Luzerne County
Bristol Township – Bristol, Bucks County
C&E Tires Inc. – Sussex, N.J.
Cee-Kay Auto – Moosic, Lackawanna County
Frey’s Tires – Williamsport, Lycoming County
GoodYear Tire & Rubber Co. – Harrisburg, Dauphin County
GoodYear Tire Co. – Levittown, Bucks County
Grossman’s Inc. – Stoughton, Mass.
Kelleher Tire Service Inc. – Scranton, Lackawanna County
Kmart – Hackettstown, N.J.
LaBar Truck Rental – Bloomsburg, Columbia County
Llads Ventures – Conestoga, Lancaster County
McCarthy Tire Service Centers – Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County
Moon’s Tire Service – Oreland, Montgomery County
Larry Follweiler – Bath, Northampton County
Mustangs Stable – Philadelphia
Roll’n Tire Co. – Wenonah, N.J.
Sandone Tire – Scranton, Lackawanna County
Yost Tire & Auto Service – Benton, Columbia County
Pennsylvania also has announced a new program to increase the marketing opportunities for scrap tires.
Called the Starr Waste Tire Reuse Grant Program, money from the fund will go toward creating markets for more than 6 million scrap tires at a landfill in Columbia County, PA.
“This is an opportunity to work together with industry and research groups to develop and deploy new technology that can put this waste to use as a resource to build our economy,” said Kathleen McGinty, Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection secretary. “Finding ways to hasten the removal of millions of tires from this pile will help us address a serious environmental and significant public health threat.”
The Starr Waste Tire Reuse Grant Program will fund projects that create new products from used tires that are stockpiled in Pennsylvania, while improving the environment, supporting economic development and enhancing quality of life.
Eligible proposals include projects that support conventional waste tire remediation processes, resulting in the creation of products or material that the current market demands. Other desired proposals include the use of new technology to use waste tires and create new markets and economic opportunities in local communities. Special consideration will be given to local solutions for tires at the Starr site.
The department is particularly interested in supporting proposals that are market-driven, create jobs and generate economic development within the Commonwealth. Applicants are encouraged to collaborate with organizations within Pennsylvania in completing proposals. Projects should not require more than two years of funding.
Interested individuals can contact Dave Althoff at DEP at dalthoff@state.pa.us to discuss the application before submittal. Applications are due Feb. 28 to: Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Energy and Technology Development, David Althoff c/o Starr Tire Pile, 400 Market St., 15th Floor, Harrisburg, PA 17101.
The General Assembly appropriated $6.8 million in the 2004-05 budget to DEP for the cleanup of scrap tires, including $2 million secured specifically for work at the Starr Tire Pile. That funding is essential to DEP’s aggressive effort to cleanup the site and make responsible generators remove their waste tires.
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