Pennsylvania County Holds Tire Round-Ups

The roundup will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Lumberton Public Works yard on Municipal Drive in Lumberton.

County residents can turn in up to eight tires without paying the $3.25-per-tire recycling fee that is normally levied at the county Resource Recovery Complex in Mansfield. Tires on rims will be accepted.

The final roundup will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 16, at the Resource Recovery Complex, which is located off Columbus Road.

The roundups will use what's left of a $178,901 state Department of Environmental Protection grant received by the county Board of Freeholders in 2001 to help reduce the threat of West Nile virus. The potentially fatal disease is spread to humans through the bite of a mosquito. The insects breed in stagnant water, and scrap tires are places where rainwater can collect and stagnate.

The grant enabled the freeholders to sponsor 12 roundups in 2001, with the leftover money paying for nine roundups this year. More than 66,000 tires have been recycled through the roundups.

"Our residents have responded to the roundups, and we encourage them to continue recycling and maintaining their properties," said Freeholder William Haines Jr., who oversees the county's recycling efforts. "Recycling scrap tires eliminates mosquito breeding grounds, which is of particular concern in regard to West Nile virus."

This year, the DEP provided grants that targeted large tire piles throughout the state, including the Foster's Farm tire dump off Chatsworth and Goose Pond roads in Tabernacle. More than $320,000 in DEP funds have been allocated to remove the estimated 1 million tires sitting at the Foster's site, although the project has not been started yet.

The agency does not have plans for grant programs targeting tires in 2003, DEP spokeswoman Patricia Cabrera said. – Burlington County (Pennsylvania) Times