Audit of DEP program uncovers almost a dozen new dumps,
as well as compliance issues with known scrap-tire piles
Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight:
The state needs to step up monitoring and detection of illegal scrap-tire piles after an audit found about a dozen have popped up around New Jersey, despite a 12-year-old law designed to manage the problem.
An audit of the state Department of Environmental Protection’s tire-recycling program found that most of the major scrap-tire piles failed to comply with regulations and still need to be cleaned up. Further, 11 new tire dumps were identified.
Scrap-tire piles pose well-recognized public health and environmental threats, ranging from being a significant fire hazard not easily extinguished when ignited to contaminating groundwater supplies. They also provide a breeding ground for mosquitoes, a source of the West Nile virus.
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In 2004, a law was signed to improve management of scrap tires by imposing a $1.50 per-tire tax on new ones. At least $2.3 million from the money raised from the surcharge went to cleaning up the state’s tire piles, which at the time were estimated to contain more than 3 million tires.
The DEP received the allocation in fiscal year 2005, but it no longer receives those funds after budgets and appropriations were modified. Over the next 10 years, annual revenue from the tire fee generated an average of $9.2 million, the majority of which was appropriated to the state Department of Transportation for snow removal, according to the audit.
Following the audit, the DEP’s enforcement officials visited 26 of the known major scrap-tire pile sites that were previously identified, and in most cases cleaned up, the state auditor said in his four-page report. Eighteen of the 26 sites were found to be out of compliance with state regulations and require additional cleanup, the audit said.
In addition, 11 new sites were identified. All told, the 29 sites found to be out of compliance with state regulations were estimated to contain approximately 350,000 to 565,000 scrap tires. One of the sites was a recycling center approved to accept up to 5,000 tires.
The audit said the state found about 40,000 tires in a large pile and not stored in designated trailers as required.
Other unauthorized tire piles turned up at another 13 junkyards, according to satellite map software, the audit said. Department investigators estimate up to 156,000 tires had accumulated on those sites.
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