Disposal dispute overshadows cleanup of millions of tires - KSAT San Antonio
SAN ANTONIO - Seven years after the Texas Commission on Environmental quality cracked down on a tire disposal, more than 2 million tires remain piled high at 11150 Applewhite Road. In September 2005, the TCEQ entered into an agreed judgment with Safe Tire Disposal Corporation and Safe Tire Disposal Corporation of Texas, operators of the dump site. According to the TCEQ, the scrap tire registration for the site expired in 2000, among other violations. Ultimately, a district court trial let to a pricey final judgement for Safe Tire and allowed the TCEQ "unlimited access to the facility" to remove the tires and scrap tires. In 2008, the TCEQ hired Trident Environmental Resources Consulting, LLC, or TERC , to haul away the tires. TERC founder Tim Sommers says his company removed 2. 5 million tires from the site. According to Sommers, he was granted permission to bring tires to the Applewhite location from other dump sites in San Antonio. The tires TERC collected elsewhere needed to be removed and the persons responsible for dumping them were going to be fined by the TCEQ, claims Sommers. Sommers alleges TERC collected the tires at the request of a local TCEQ representative and that all of the outside tires brought to the Applewhite facility were processed and removed. Source: www.ksat.com
