Maverick County Struggling to Meet TCEQ’s Used Tires Disposal Mandate
By: Jose G. Landa, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2016
Maverick County continues to struggle with satisfying the mandate imposed by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) regarding the disposal of used tires within the County according to a presentation made by Luis Rodriguez of the County Auditor’s Office at the January 11, 2016 Commissioners Court meeting.
On July 1, 2015, TCEQ issued a letter of noncompliance to Maverick County regarding the accumulation of large quantities of used tires at the County Fairgrounds Arena (former Caballo Dorado Arena) and lack of proper disposition of these used tires, giving the County a deadline to clear this environmental and public health issue. Subsequently, TCEQ gave Maverick County an extension of time to fulfill its disposition of these used tires.
Rodriguez reported to Commissioners Court that the County had only been able to dispose 11,000 used tires with the allocated $49,000 funds for this project and that there were tens of thousands more used tires remaining in County facilities to be disposed of under the TCEQ mandate.
Commissioners Court proceeded to discuss the critical used tire issue and questioned County staff if they knew how many used tires were still left at County facilities to be disposed of.
County Road and Bridge Department Superintendent Ernesto Guevara and Rodriguez estimated that there may be up to 90,000 used tires within County facilities requiring to be disposed of.
County Commissioner Precinct 4 Roberto Ruiz questioned why the used tire figure was higher than previously provided. Guevara stated that the County-wide Clean Up Campaign received many used tires for disposition, increasing significantly the used tires problem.
County Judge David R. Saucedo stated that if the County was to take on the task of removing the approximately 90,000 used tires it would cost almost $450,000 according to the existing tire removal fees charged by the current tire removal company.
“The problem that we have with the tires, every precinct has it. Every time I go to my office, I see at least a new bunch, practically every day in the corners and alleys. I am sure you all see the same problem,” said Commissioner Ruiz.
“I believe we have two problems. How are we going to tackle the mountains of tires we have in two precincts? Problem number two is we need to come up with some ordinance or legislation to control it and that’s even more difficult,” said Ruiz.
Ruiz noted that the Texas Association of Counties was contacted for some type of help and guidance and that one possible solution could be working out a usage of the Maverick County Landfill to properly dispose of the used/scrap tires as required by TCEQ and state law.
“What if we buy the processor to cut the tires as required by TCEQ?” asked Ruiz.
Former County Commissioner Precinct 2 Daniela Flores-Aleman had recommended two or three years ago for the County to purchase a tire shredder processor and had located a reasonably priced machine, but Commissioners Court failed to act on her suggestion. The used tire problem continues to grow in Maverick County as residents do not properly dispose of them and the population keeps growing.
Ruiz discussed the pros and cons on what the County could encounter with labor costs, equipment costs, feasibility of the proposal and space at the landfill, and the cost to build a cell within the Maverick County Landfill to handle all the used tires.
We need to take care of this problem. “ added Ruiz.
“My question is how can one individual stockpile 100 tires and then go dump them somewhere. Somebody is dumping 100 tires at a time. You know what those people who are doing that are receiving a fee for the disposal of those tires and we’re paying for that. There’s a regulation on that. I’m not saying that its all of them or half of them but you know what their is always one or two that are going to affect everybody else.” said Judge Saucedo.
Judge Saucedo stated the County needed to seriously start looking at policing the illegal dumping of used/scrap tires across the county. “If you stop it, I can assure you, you’re not going to have as much of a problem as what were seeing right now,” said Judge Saucedo.
Commissioners Court discussed the multiple causes and reasons why the used tires problem is growing in the County and possible actions or remedies the County can take to control and handle the problem, including greater policing and regulation of used tire illegal disposal.
“We’re over here thinking of how do we come up with the $450,000 for the disposal of tires. What if we come with the regulations and if you have them in place, your not going to have the $450,000 problem. We’re still going to have a problem but its going to dissipate,” said Judge Saucedo.
Commissioners Court discussed the amount of leg work that it would require to set the proper implementation of a well rounded plan, including the assistance of the state and state regulatory agencies in alleviating the huge scrap tire problem in Maverick County.
Rodriguez noted one new problem seen recently in the County are the large amount of commercial tires/semi truck tires.
County Commissioner Precinct 1 Jerry Morales stated that as of now there are only three businesses that recycle with the City of Eagle Pass under their tire recycling/ disposal program. “Of all the tire shops in Eagle Pass, only three take the time to go and recycle here.” added Morales.
Morales suggested the County should consider looking into the hiring of an employee through code enforcement to regulate and check in with the local tire shops and see if they’re adhering to what is required of them by law.
Commissioners Court took no action on the matter and will be revisiting the item at a future date.
It is only a matter of time before TCEQ returns and will request an update on Maverick County’s efforts to dispose of and remove the tens of thousands of used tires in County facilities.
Under the Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 365, it is illegal to litter and considered a Class C misdemeanor under section 365.012 and is punishable with possible fines and jail time as well.
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/HS/htm/HS.365.htm
