Illinois EPA to Clean up Unsafe Tire Dumps in East St. Louis and Washington Park

 

These sites, which are located in an Environmental Justice area, have been the location of chronic open dumping for many years. The Illinois EPA is using funds from its Used Tire Cleanup Program to remove and properly dispose of waste tires first from the 500 block of North 20^th Street site in East St. Louis on Wednesday. When that removal action is completed, they will move to the 6881 Forest Blvd. site in Washington Park.

Illinois EPA expects each cleanup to take about three days, depending on weather conditions.

 

"The disregard for the law by illegal dumpers not only puts the public at risk, it harms property values and affects the quality of life of the citizens who live near them," said Illinois EPA Interim Director Lisa Bonnett. 

 

This removal action will be conducted using monies from the Used Tire Management Fund.  The Illinois EPA is able to provide financial assistance to some units of local government for waste tire removal actions.  The Illinois EPA is conducting a limited number of waste tire removal actions in Environmental Justice areas where because of race, color, national origin, religion, disability, income, age, or gender, exposure to greater environmental impact may exist or happen.  It is also working with these units of local government to curtail the chronic illegal dumping activities occurring in these communities through enhanced patrolling, community education/action, surveillance and enforcement.

 

In addition, the Agency is stepping up its enforcement against chronic waste tire dumpers and other open dumping violators.  House Bill 2001, which recently passed the Illinois House of Representatives and is now under consideration by the Senate, increases the penalties for this type of violation from a misdemeanor to a felony.  

The Environmental Protection Act currently allows state and local law enforcement to issue citations of up to $1500 for each violation, including causing or allowing water accumulation in used or waste tires, failure by a tire retailer to collect the tire user fee from retail tire customers, failure by a tire retailer to file a quarterly tax return with the Illinois Department of Revenue (also a Class 4 Felony), and transporting used tires without a valid Illinois EPA registration and vehicle placard. 

 

The Illinois EPA's used/waste tire removal program began in 1990. It is funded by a $1 per tire user fee that consumers pay when purchasing new tires. Used tires are among the few products having a "closed loop" recycling program.  Used tires are collected by tire dealers and are passed along to tire recyclers or processors. Some tires are retreaded and reused; others are recycled into a variety of products and uses; but most are shredded into a high-energy fuel supplement known as tire-derived fuel (TDF) and are burned in power plants, industrial boilers or cement kilns for energy recovery.

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