BILL WOULD GIVE ADEQ GREATER AUTHORITY OVER TIRE STORAGE SITES
By LAUREN PROPER
Cronkite News Service
PHOENIX (Thursday, April 3) _ Stacks of tires that build up in storage lots, at recycling centers and in people’s yards are more than an eyesore. If not properly disposed of in a timely manner, they are breeding grounds for disease and fire hazards, officials say.
A state lawmaker is sponsoring legislation that would make it illegal to store 100 or more used tires outdoors without registering the site with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.
Rep. Ray Barnes, R-Phoenix, chairman of the House Committee on the Environment, said HB 2426 aims to prevent incidents such as a tire fire last year in Maricopa that burned for nearly a week.
“A lot of people probably don’t even see it as a problem until there is a problem, and then it’s too late,” Barnes said.
The bill also would require that waste sites with between 500 and 5,000 tires properly dispose of them within a year or have a solid waste facility plan approved by ADEQ.
The bill has received House approval and won preliminary approval from the Senate on Thursday.
Todd Madeksza, director of legislative affairs for the County Supervisors Association, said used tires are an issue in all 15 counties. He said ADEQ needs more authority to force owners to dispose of tires properly or take them to plants that recycle them for other uses.
“There have been instances of individuals holding tires and collecting them but not fulfilling the second part to recycle them in an environmentally friendly way,” Madeksza said.
Tires are recycled for a number of purposes, including use in rubberized asphalt and as padding for artificial grass and playgrounds.
Mark Shaffer, director of communications for ADEQ, said giving the agency greater authority over tire disposal is important because of Arizona’s rapid growth.
“It’s something people have been thinking about for decades, but there really hasn’t been a good solution,” he said.
Sandy Bahr, conservation outreach director of the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon chapter, said a great deal of environmental damage can happen when tires are stored or disposed of improperly.
“We’ve always felt like these tire sites need to have good regulation because tire fires pollute a lot and can burn forever, and we obviously want to have control on it,” she said.