New York cleans up 26.5 million scrap tyres

ERJ staff report (TB)

Albany, New York- New York has cleaned up more than 26.5 million scrap tyres in the past five years and is on track to clean up the remaining 7.5 million by year-end 2010, according to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

Of 17 major tyre dumps that existed in New York in 2004, 12 no longer exist, the DEC said, including the two largest: the Fortino site in Oswego County (11.4 million tyres) and the Mohawk Tyre Storage Facility site in Waterford, Saratoga County (5 million tyres).

So far, 102 dump sites have been completely remediated, the DEC said.

The largest dump site remaining to be cleaned up is the New York Tyre site in Suffolk County (2 million tyres), according to the agency. Other large sites yet to be addressed are the Thomas Price site in Madison County, with 1 million tyres; the Mahopac site in Putnam County, 750,000 tyres; the Fortino 2 site in Onondaga County, 550,000 tyres; and the Almag site in Rensselaer County, 550,000 tyres.

New York launched a Waste Tire Stockpile Abatement Plan in the fall of 2004, around the same time it instituted a recycling fee of $2.50 on every new tyre sold in the state.

The agency did not say what the state has spent to achieve the cleanup.

From Tire Business (A Crain publication)

Press release from NY DEC