Oct. 29, 2008 — The V.I. Waste Management Authority and others have until July 2010 to get rid of more than 870,000 tires stored next to the Bovoni landfill on St. Thomas, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday.
There is no fine associated with the EPA order unless they don't get the job done, EPA environmental scientist Lenny Grossman said in a phone interview.
Waste Management signed off on the order rather than making it adversarial process, Grossman said.
"That's positive," he said.
Waste Management is already moving on the matter, spokesman Stella Saunders said.
"We have an RFP going out for advertisement next week," Saunders said, referring to the request for proposal in the works.
Since those proposing to collect the tires and ship them off island will submit prices, Saunders could not say how much it will cost.
The 870,000 tires started accumulating in the Bovoni area about 10 years ago, Saunders said.
"EPA is taking steps to ensure that these scrap tires are responsibly handled once and for all," EPA Regional Administrator Alan J. Steinberg said in a press release.
The territory has already shipped 30,000 other tires off island. Saunders said they came mainly from places like garages that change tires and from illegal tire dump sites.
EPA said that in addition to Waste Management, the V.I. government, A-9 Trucking Enterprise Inc. and a private landowner are responsible for the tires. The order, faxed to the Source by the EPA, indicates the private landowners are Joseph and Zulma Hodge.
The tires are on government-owned land leased to A-9 Trucking, Grossman said. They're there because A-9 Trucking bought a shredder to rip up the tires but never got the appropriate permits.
The order says that Waste Management can get rid of the tires in stages as long as they're removed by July 2010.
At issue for EPA is that the tires provide a breeding ground for mosquitoes that spread such diseases as dengue fever. They could also catch fire.
"The big issue is risk. Tire fires are very bad because they release toxins," Grossman said.
The EPA's order to Waste Management indicates that a bad tire fire occurred at the Bovoni Landfill in 1996.
EPA's order, issued under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, mandates that in addition to removing the tires, the government, Waste Management, A-9 Trucking and the Hodges must apply pesticides to kill mosquitoes and larvae in the tires, improve access for fire trucks in disposal areas, limit site access, and properly manage scrap tires in the future.
According to the EPA press release, scrap tire fires release known or potential human carcinogens like benzene, arsenic, cadmium and chromium into the environment. A burning tire can release up to two gallons of pyrolytic oil, a free-flowing tar that can seep into soil and water
Waste Management no longer accepts tires at the territory's landfills, leaving the disposal job up to those businesses that charge a small fee to accept old tires when they sell customers new ones. However, Saunders said not all tire sellers are doing this, which forces Waste Management to continually clean up illegally dumped tires.
While Saunders said the EPA told the territory not to accept tires at the territory's landfills, Grossman said that wasn't so. It said it was up to the government to make that decision, but the EPA said the landfills must be operated in compliance with EPA regulations.
