Petrol Rem Subsidiary Signs Tire Handling Contract

Petrol Rem Inc., a subsidiary of Pittsburgh-based BICO, Inc., announces that its Tireless, LLC subsidiary signed a sub-contract agreement to start remediating discarded tires at a tire pile near Upper Sandusky, Ohio. The program begins on October 1, 2001.

Under the terms of the agreement with Central Ohio Contractors, Inc., Tireless will use its portable tire shredder and labor force in the operation at the Kirby tire pile. COC has a contract with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to remove 30,000 tons, or the equivalent of 3 million passenger tires, within a 12-month period. Tireless will receive $.45 per tire processed during the course of operation.

``Our goal in working with Central Ohio Contractors is to shred 1 to 1.5 million tires at the site,'' said Tireless President Carl Greene. The portable tire shredder owned by Tireless cuts whole tires into 2``x2'' chips which in this case will be used at a nearby landfill for construction drainage. The machine, manufactured by Columbus McKinnon, has the ability to shred up to 2,000 tires each hour when running at full capacity.