Illegal tire dumping causing unrest

BOWLING GREEN, Ky.-Old and useless tires are being dumped near roads, waterways and on private properties in Warren County. The illegal disposal of the tires has become an expensive nuisance for both the county and property owners.

Yesterday the county disposed of about 1,500 illegally dumped tires. It’s become a mounting issue.

When tires get dumped, someone else gets tasked with properly disposing them. Often that someone is Stan Reagan, the Coordinator of Environmental Planning and Assistance for Warren County.

“They can’t reuse the tire or resell it, and they’ll dump a whole bunch of them out on a county road. Then Warren County ends up having to pick those up,” said Reagan.

The issue has cost the county as much as $4,000 a year to deal with.

“The biggest problem with the disposal of tires is that people don’t want to pay to dispose of them. It costs anything from $2 for a passenger tire all the way up to $12.50 for a truck tire, and it costs over $20 for a tractor tire,” said Reagan.

Tires are frequently dumped at the Bowling Green Muffler New & Used Tire Center. The manager there says they end up footing the bill to get rid of them.

“Somebody’s got to pay for it, so it comes out of the company,” said Michael Young, manager at Bowling Green Muffler New & Used Tire Center

Disposing of the tires is no small costs for the owners of the business.

“Depends on the month, anywhere from $450 to $700 or $800,” said Young

Violators who are caught improperly disposing of tires could face up to one year in jail or be fined up to $500.