Cleanup removes old tires from county

By WAYNE QUESENBERRY/Staff

Tires are still rolling out of Bland County. More than 3,700 of them are on their way to a recycling center in Appomattox.
“We had a tremendous turnout by the residents of the county for the used tire collecting,” stated Rodney Ratliff, director of public works. “There were 107 participants and as of now we have 3,705 tires.”
The countywide event is held in the spring every two years. This year’s tire collecting took place April 21-23 to coincide with Earth Day.
At no cost to them, county residents were allowed to bring old tires from standard-size vehicles to the wastewater treatment plant in Bastian. They were asked to clear debris from the tires and to take them off the rims.
“We probably had some antique tires,” Ratliff commented. “Some of them were the old white side walls. A lot of them had been used on farms for holding down tarps and they don’t do that anymore.”
According to him, a tire company in Appomattox contracts with the county to drop trailers at the site as needed to collect the tires. The loaded trailers are then taken to the company’s recycling center which has been approved by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
New River Valley Regional Jail inmates helped unload the tires into the trailers at the treatment plant.
The Board of Supervisors, Ratliff said, budgeted $4,500 for the project which includes only tires from residents in the county. He noted that businesses are not allowed to participate.
“It gives people an opportunity to get rid of their old tires,” Ratliff stated, “and it prevents mosquitoes and other insects from having places to breed.”
In past years, the collection has netted between 2,500 and 3,000 tires which were recycled, Ratliff said.
The DEQ estimates that Virginia generates more than 7 million waste tires annually.
Wayne Quesenberry can be reached at 1-800-655-1406 or .