Tire Dumps

It is estimated by industry groups such as the U.S. Tire Manufacturers, that every year 250-280 million tires are disposed of in the United States. If we add up the total thrown away since the year 2000, we have over five billion tires thrown away. The amount to be disposed of is tremendous. Where do all these tires end up? They have gone to an assortment of places, from simply dumping them in landfills to burning millions of them in industrial furnaces.

 

In general, many tire dealers and wholesalers disposed of their tires by paying a small fee to whoever would take them away the cheapest. Many of these tire haulers had deals with farmers and landowners outside of the cities who would allow them to dump the tires on their property for a few dollars. Some tire dumps contain millions of these old tires. States began to collect fees on disposed tires when new ones were purchased starting back in the mid-1980s. Today, 37 states collect fees ranging from 25¢ to over $3.00 to turn in old tires when a new one is bought. While the fees are supposed to be sent into the state to fund specific programs, the money is not really tracked, such as in the state of Texas. If a tire dealer can get $2 from a consumer for tire disposal and pay a hauler $1 to take it away, the tire dealers have a nice little way to make some extra money. The tire haulers also do, especially if they dispose of the tires illegally or perhaps cross state lines and dispose of them in a nearby state charging 50¢ a tire. One tire dumper in Georgia was estimated to have earned over $100,000 before being caught illegally dumping the tires. 

 

The largest tire dump in the world was in the state of Colorado. Known as Tire Mountain, it was estimated to hold over 80 million used tires. Work to reduce the numbers through a shredding program funded by state tire disposal fees is still ongoing, but millions of tires remain. 

 

Tire dumps do not need to have thousands of tires in them to pose a risk. While, obviously, the larger the dump, the bigger the potential is, small dumps also are an issue. Many local service stations and tire shops have a pile of tires out back. The larger the volume of tire sales they do, the more used tires they take in. 

 

Landfills, which used to be the place to dispose of old tires, no longer want them. In many cases, they will no longer accept them. The reasons are legitimate. Old tires take hundreds of years to decompose, and during that time they kill off much of the beneficial bacteria the landfill uses for decomposition of organic waste. In addition, tires usually work their way back to the top of the landfill. Moreover, because they are bulky and hollow, they take up more space in the landfill, and available landfill space is rapidly decreasing. Unless the tires are cut into pieces or shredded into strips, they are no longer welcome to be disposed of at landfills.  

 

With all the tires needing disposal, there need to be options for reusing at least some of them. The tire industry has promoted recycling of old tires for years, but the uses and markets for that are limited. Companies who take the tires and grind them into crumb rubber can market the crumb for use in playground surfaces and partial fill for new roadway surfaces. Some innovative companies use the crumb to make new products, such as being turned into mulch for playgrounds or sandals, added to asphalt for roadway construction, and powdered into dust for industry, but that still only puts a tiny dent in the overall quantity disposed of each year. Recycling only uses a quarter of all old tires, or about 70 million. About 40 million old tires a year are still disposed of. The recycling operations that do exist also have the same issue with keeping a giant pile of tires onsite for their use.

 

Currently, the largest use of old tires is burning them for fuel in furnaces, such as those in the cement and paper industries, as well as several others. Almost half of the annual waste flow of tires gets burned. While the proponents of this disposal method claim it is recycling at its finest, opponents say that burning tires is not recycling. Rather, the facilities they are burned in are polluting the air and subjecting communities to toxic chemicals, an issue discussed at further length in the chapters on cement plants, solid waste incinerators, and industrial operations in this very book. 

 

Despite these uses, many old tires are simply dumped. Tire dumps exist all across the country, especially illegal ones. For every one that is licensed, there are several that operate without permits while they accumulate thousands of old tires. As Tony and I have travelled, we have seen more than our share of piles of tires dumped off the back of a truck sitting on the side of a road. In our national forests some of the dirt roads have become dumping grounds for disposing of tires. On culs de sac in the country, trucks from the nearby city come at night to drop their tires. 

 

Even individual people have created significant tire pollution. In Clayton County, Georgia, a man who was dubbed a serial tire dumper was recently arrested. He was charged with renting U-Hauls and illegally dumping over 100,000 old tires at places all over the county. 

 

Sadly, there are dozens of people like this lured by the fast dollars and almost unlimited places to dump old tires without being seen. In the town of Florissant, Missouri, business owners are finding their area a constant target for midnight tire dumping. One day it was behind a closed restaurant, the next, in a vacant lot. Old tires are being dumped on a regular basis, and the culprit is still on the loose. 

 

Clearly, tire dumps are a national issue, and they pose several environmental and health risks.

 

1 – Fire and Smoke

 

The most dangerous hazard a large tire dump has is a massive fire in the dump. Not only will there be impact from the smoke but also from the potential for soil and water contamination. Nearby properties have been contaminated with toxic chemicals from the runoff of burning tires and chemical firefighting foam used. Buildings and nearby homes are unusable while the stench of smoke and chemicals are cleaned out or dissipates. Once a pile of tires starts to burn, they are very difficult to extinguish. Many tire fires in the past burned for days. Anyone who ever tried to put out a fire from a burning piece of rubber has experienced just how difficult it is to extinguish. 

 

The EPA recognizes the extreme danger a fire would create in a massive pile of tires. Big piles of tires have everything fire needs. It has fuel since tires are made from oil, giving the fire a continuous source of material to burn. It also has plenty of oxygen since the hollow places in tires allow for air to circulate. Depending on the size of the tire pile, it could burn possibly for weeks before it is finally extinguished. 

 

Once the tires start burning, they create thick black clouds of smoke containing toxic chemicals. People who have lived through a tire fire, even a small one, know how toxic the smoke is and how it permeates everything inside their homes, turning it all into a smelly, smoky mess. When burned, tires release oil and heavy metals into the environment. The site of the fire may be completely contaminated with toxic materials and become a toxic waste site needing clean up. In fact, some tire fire sites have been declared Superfund sites due to the incredible amount of hazardous material left.

 

The city of Phoenix, Arizona, says tire fires are a threat to the environment and health of individuals in the same ways an oil tanker accident or a railroad car carrying hazardous substances are. Many emergency response teams are aware these fires create potential hazards due to exposure to volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, heavy metals, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHS). Exposure to the toxins in the water, smoke, or soils is hazardous to the respiratory system, cardiovascular system, and may cause liver and kidney damage. 

 

One of the largest tire fires ever was in the town of Mountain Falls, Virginia. Approximately seven million tires went up in smoke, and the fire burned for about nine months unable to be extinguished. The smoke from the fire went 3,000 feet high and spread across four states. During the fire, thousands of gallons of oil was released into the ground and area from the melted tires. A nearby stream was contaminated with the oily tar that flowed into it. The EPA emergency response team was able to work on containment of runoff from the site and managed to collect over 800,000 gallons of oily wastes that would have otherwise made it into the surface waters nearby. People in the path of the toxic smoke had difficulty breathing in some cases, and many had nose and throat irritations from inhaling the smoke that remained in the air for weeks. The site was considered a Superfund because of the extensive contamination, and it took almost 20 years to be cleaned up enough to be removed from the list.

 

In Waterford, New York, a massive tire dump holding an estimated five million tires caught on fire, burning about 750,000 of them before being able to partially extinguish the blaze. A nearby General Electric plant that manufactured silicone needed to be evacuated. The tire dump had been closed down several years earlier due to concerns over the number of tires stored and the risk of a potential fire. It took firefighters nine days to extinguish the blaze, which was fueled by 750,000 tires. Nearby residents remained inside their homes to avoid the toxic smoke. 

 

2. Groundwater and Soil Contamination

 

Tires themselves are not considered hazardous waste; however, when a tire burns, it breaks down into its hazardous components. Toxic gases such as benzene, phenols, butadiene, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are released from the burning rubber and oil. There are heavy metals used in the construction of the tire that are released, and each tire contains about two gallons oil, so during the fire, runoff from thousands of gallons of contaminated water is a potential hazard to groundwater

 

A tire fire back in West Rockhill, Pennsylvania, back in 1986 saw 70,000 tires go up in flames in a massive blaze. The tires were a disposal site that a 30 unit tire shop used for dumping old tires at. It took more than 30 fire companies and almost 24 hours to get the fire under control. At the time of the fire, crews from nearby naval stations joined the battle, using firefighting foams that are now known to contain PFOS, a carcinogen. Almost three million gallons of water was used fighting the blaze, and recently, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Health has been finding that dozens of private wells in the area may have been contaminated with PFOS and PFOA. Local residents who over the years suffered illnesses such as cancer are now wondering if the chemical contamination in the water supply was the cause. 

 

In Traverse City, Michigan, a huge tire fire consumed 750,000 tires and burned for 22 days back in 1996. The groundwater was contaminated with pyrolytic oil, and the EPA stepped in to clean up most of the contamination. In 2019, over 20 years since the fire, wells in some of the households near the fire site are testing positive for PFAS in the water. While the health effects of the chemical are still being studied, the EPA has quickly set guidelines for levels in drinking water. The residents, however, are not taking chances with consuming their contaminated well water and switched to using bottled water instead.

 

In addition to fires causing groundwater contamination, as tires sit and decay, some of the materials that went into making them begin to break down. While the tire itself may take decades to crumble away, chemicals such as lead, zinc, and a host of others will slowly leach out into the soil. Depending on factors such as how long the tires sit, how much precipitation there is, and the type of soil, these chemicals can cause the groundwater to become contaminated. The EPA recognizes the danger that decaying old tires may have as they leach toxic chemicals into the soil and potentially the groundwater where the tires are disposed of. Tests of soils under where some of the larger tire dumps have been cleaned up have shown levels of volatile organic compounds, zinc, and lead. While the levels were not high enough to warrant remediation beyond the normal clean-up procedures, they were enough of a concern to test the groundwater for the contaminants.  

 

We were unable to find examples of communities affected directly in this way, but the EPA recognizes the threat to soil and groundwater that decaying tires may have as well as the potential to affect the health of nearby people dependent on the drinking water source. 

 

3. Insect and Rodent Breeding Grounds

 

If there was a perfect place for insects to breed, it would be the tire. The round shape and the hollow inside create a perfect environment. The shape of the tire allows rainwater to be easily collected during a storm. There is always some shade inside to slow the evaporation of the water and also keep it cool. At the same time, the rubber material that tires are partly made of holds the heat so the temperature is warm and steady inside, almost like an insect incubator. Debris, such as leaves, accumulates inside, providing a perfect source of food for adult insects and larvae as well. Combining all these factors creates insect heaven, the perfect place for insects to lay their eggs. The CDC says many of the mosquitoes and other insects that spread disease such as West Nile Virus and encephalitis come from tire breeding grounds. 

 

Even small collections of tires pose potential hazards. During the summer months especially, that small pile can potentially breed thousands of disease-carrying insects. Every year the CDC and local governments ask people to make sure they empty all standing water to minimize potential breeding grounds. Even places as small as an abandoned pet water bowl can become a perfect place for insect larvae. In a pile of a hundred tires, millions of insects can breed. 

 

In Moncks Corners, South Carolina, a subdivision next to a now closed tire recycling company had a big problem. The development was plagued with swarms of big, bloodsucking mosquitoes. One resident said they kept coming in big waves and would bite anything that was exposed on their bodies. It was so bad it was difficult to be outside. In Anderson, South Carolina, near another tire dump the same company operated, neighbors were also having huge issues with uncontrolled populations of mosquitoes swarming the houses nearby. One resident remembers, “They were eating us alive,” as he put it. Nearby residents also had thick black soot coating their vehicles and houses which came off the dry rotting tires.  More than just the nuisance of a swarm of bloodsucking insects–already a concern in itself–residents of both of these communities were at a heightened risk of diseases spread by insects.

 

In Simms, Texas, an illegal tire dump in a wooded area has grown from an estimated 20,000 tires to almost 50,000. The tires were disposed of over at least a two-year period on private property that nobody was actively using during the time. The county was hoping to have the tire dump cleaned up quickly to avoid a potential mass infestation of mosquitoes and reduce the hazard a fire in the dump would create. The Bowie County Deputy Fire Chief was concerned that if the tire pile caught on fire the resulting blaze and chemicals released from the tires could leave the area a Superfund site. The health inspector, meanwhile, worries about the mosquitoes spreading disease in addition to the rats, snakes, and other animals making the pile a new home. 

 

Tire dumps are not always easy to spot. Especially in rural areas or undeveloped properties outside towns and cities, there are unlimited places tires can be disposed of. The lure of cash money in exchange for allowing someone to dump a few trailer loads of old tires on it is tempting to many people. It doesn’t take many truckloads of old tires until there are thousands in a pile. In cities, especially in more run-down areas with vacant lots and abandoned buildings, piles of tires may find their way there and quickly multiply. The state environmental agency sometimes has a list of any registered tire dumps and also may even have an additional list of illegal ones they know about. 

 

Because of the difficulty in finding tire dumps, the best you can do is to be observant if you see a pile of tires near you. Find out about having the pile removed before it starts to grow and become a hazard. That would be the best course of action. Also, watch any neighborhood businesses that regularly have a pile of tires due to their business to see how often it is taken away and how big it gets before that happens. Many towns also have regulations limiting the number of tires that can be stored at any one time before they need to be taken away. 

 

If the tire dump appears to be a regularly used area for disposing of tires, legal or otherwise, chances are good it will remain and grow larger. Giving at least a half mile distance between yourself and the dump should take you out of the highest insect zone. Since groundwater contamination is a possibility, if you are dependent on well water, a mile would be a safer buffer. Testing your water on an annual basis for metals and volatile organic compounds is strongly urged. Remember, public water supplies may also be affected if the well is in the area of contamination, so also be aware your public water supply may have issues needing to be watched.