Wisconsin Tire Recycler Agrees to Cleanup Program

Watertown Tire Recycling, a Wisconsin-based tire recycling company, has informed the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources that it has contracted with North Shore Environmental Construction Inc., of Germantown, WI, to clean-up the tire fire burn site on his property.

North Shore Environmental began removing fire debris, ash and contaminated soil from the tire fire site last week for disposal in a sanitary landfill, according to Joe Brusca, regional air and waste leader for DNR’s South Central Region based at Fitchburg.

The contractor will be required to do soil samples to determine the quantity and types of contamination at the site and then will be required to clean-up to accepted standards for those pollutants. DNR’s environmental clean-up program will review the contractor’s work before he is considered done with the clean-up, noted Brusca.

 “The Department is happy that Mr. Springer has chosen to use his financial resources rather than public funds to clean-up the site,” said Mr. Brusca.

Remediation at the approximately four acre burn site is estimated to cost more than $350,000, according to North Shore Environmental.

WTR’s owner, Tom Springer, had been given 30 days by DNR to remove an estimated 30,000 unburned tires off-site because he no longer has the equipment to process them. Springer had already contracted with Waste Management of Wisconsin, Inc., to remove the chipped tires from the site to a sanitary landfill.

The removal of the chip pile was expected to be completed by Aug. 16.

Springer also contracted with a scrap recycler to remove salvageable metal from equipment and building debris resulting from the fire.