Missouri has begun a cleanup of the state´s largest tire dump, which has an estimated 1 million scrap tires on-site.

A Kansas City scrap tire hauler, Jim Robbins, began collecting tires at the site, which was a rock quarry, in the 1980s, according to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. He had planned to cover the tires with rock from the quarry, but the state´s first scrap tire law enacted in 1990 made the site an illegal tire dump. In 2005, the state DNR reached a settlement with Robbins and the property owners for the cleanup of the tires.

The DNR has contracted Tri-Rinse Inc. of St. Louis to remove the tires. The company will shred the waste tires for use as a substitute for gravel used in the leachate collection layer in a landfill.

The state´s scrap tire fee will pay for the cleanup. Retailers collect a 50-cent fee on every new tire purchased in the state.

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