IDEM cleans up 9,000 waste tires from woods of Rossville property

Tires will be diverted for use in various applications

ROSSVILLE, Ind. ─ Large piles of discarded tires pose a dangerous risk to a community’s health, safety and environment. Thanks to efforts by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), 9,000 waste tires have been disposed of properly from a site in Rossville.

A former farm house at 7802 West 800 North, Rossville was home to the tires. Located over four miles from the center of town, the waste tires remained in spite of agency efforts to ensure a proper cleanup by the owner. To alleviate the significant potential threat, IDEM hired a contractor to remove the tires, which will be trucked to Kentucky where they will be processed into crumb rubber and used in various applications.

Waste tires pose a number of public health and environmental concerns. Illegal tire piles pose a serious fire hazard because the fires are extremely difficult to extinguish and produce unhealthy smoke and contaminated runoff that can harm waterways. Illegal tire piles also pose a serious public health threat because they attract rodents and provide the perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus.

“IDEM’s action has rid the community of a hidden environmental problem and is helping to make the community a safer place to live,” said IDEM Commissioner Thomas Easterly.

IDEM was able to clean up the tires with funds from the waste tire management fund that receives $0.25 cents for each new tire that is sold in Indiana.

“IDEM’s priority is protecting Hoosiers and our environment, and it is a great feeling to be able to come in and make such a large impact on an environmental hazard with the funds we have available,” said Commissioner Easterly.

Source: IDEM Press Release