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Environment and Natural Resources
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 3, 2002
For More Information: Keith Gestring, 773-4216
Janklow Attacks West Nile Virus with Free Tire Disposal
PIERRE – Governor Bill Janklow announced today that his Spruce Up South Dakota project will give people one last chance to get rid of all old tires that may be serving as breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Free tire collections were held earlier this summer in all East River counties, ending in late July, and are currently concluding in West River counties.
Because of the West Nile virus, Janklow has directed DENR to work with local governments to immediately reopen through September 16 East River tire collection sites where tires still remain to be picked up by the Spruce Up project. At East River county collection sites where about 500,000 tires have already been picked up, DENR will work with local governments to reopen those too.
West Nile virus is a mosquito-borne infection that can cause encephalitis. It has been detected in 50 counties in South Dakota. In addition to three human confirmed cases in South Dakota, it has been detected in 61 birds and 186 horses.
"This is a golden opportunity to get rid of the tires where mosquitoes hatch in huge numbers, thus limiting the spread of the West Nile virus," said Janklow.
East River tire collection sites that have tires remaining to be picked up and have been immediately reopened to the public for free tire disposal are in the table below.
County | Location | Collection Dates | Contact Person | Number of Tires Already at Site |
Brookings | Brookings County Regional Landfill | Now through September 16 | Bob McGrath | 50,000 |
Clark | Clark Restricted Use Site | Now through September 16 | Les Solberg | 8,477 |
Codington | Watertown Regional Landfill | Now through September 16 | Mike Boerger | 53,547 |
Grant | Milbank Restricted Use Site | Now through September 16 | Gene Mann | 600 |
Hamlin | Hayti HD Building | Now through September 16 | Dixie Opdahl | 11,000 |
Marshall | Britton Restricted Use Site | Now through September 16 | Lela Olson | 3,000 |
Minnehaha | Sioux Falls Regional Landfill | Now through September 16 | Doug Johnson | 62,318 |
Moody | Flandreau–Moody County Gravel Pit | Now through September 16 | Buddy Tye | 2,500 |
Roberts | Sisseton-Roberts County Landfill | Now through September 16 | Randy Deutsch | 2,800 |
Turner | Hurley-Turner County Gravel Pit | Now through September 16 | Ron Schulte | 12,000 |
DENR will work with local governments to reopen other East River tire collection sites and will advertise those locations after receiving approval from local officials.
Free Spruce Up tire and car battery collections in West River counties are:
County | Location | Collection Dates |
Bennett County | S Diamond Tractor & Salvage - east side of Martin | Now through September 16 |
Butte County | Belle Fourche Regional Landfill | Now through October 1 |
Corson County | McLaughlin Restricted Use Site | Now through October 1 |
Custer County | Custer Highway Shop | Now through September 30 |
Fall River County | Hot Springs Material Recovery Facility | Now through September 16 |
Gregory County | Burke Restricted Use Site | Now through September 16 |
Haakon County | Philip Restricted Use Site | Now through September 28 |
Harding County | Buffalo Restricted Use Site | Now through September 28 |
Jackson County | Kadoka Restricted Use Site | Now through October 1 |
Jones County | Murdo – County Highway Shop south of I-90 Exit 192 | Now through October 1 |
Lawrence County | Lead-WASP Restricted Use Site | September 1 through 14 |
Meade County | Faith Restricted Use Site | Now through September 28 |
Mellette County | White River Restricted Use Site | Now through September 28 |
Pennington County | Rapid City Regional Landfill | Now through September 30 |
Perkins County | Lemmon Restricted Use Site | Now through September 19 |
Shannon County | Pine Ridge Regional Landfill | Now through September 28 |
Tripp County | Winner Restricted Use Site | Now through September 16 |
All waste tires, including those from passenger cars, pickups, trucks, and farm equipment, can be brought to these collection sites. Waste tires must be removed from the rims. Tire retailers are not allowed to drop off tires at the free disposal sites because most retailers have collected a tire disposal fee from their customers to pay for proper disposal, and their waste tires are routinely collected.
Janklow made cleaning up old tires and car batteries a priority under his Spruce Up South Dakota project. Once collected, tires are shredded into 1-inch chunks, and then hauled to Big Stone Power Plant near Milbank. At the power plant, the tire chunks are mixed with the coal and burned to produce electricity. Batteries are taken by local commercial recyclers and shipped to national battery recycling operations.
Governor Janklow’s Spruce Up project has already been a huge success in getting rid of old tires and car batteries. Old tire stockpiles that posed fire threats and served as breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other vermin have been eliminated statewide. Working with the counties, free tire and car battery collections for county residents to drop off their old tires and car batteries have been held in each county. Between the stock pile cleanups and the free county disposal days, more than 4.14 million tires and 13,000 batteries have been cleaned up.
The money for the hauling and shredding of the tires comes primarily from a state tire fee of 25 cents per tire, not to exceed a dollar per vehicle, that is collected by the county when vehicles are registered. The 2002 Legislature approved using a portion of these fees for the waste tire cleanups again this year.
For more information on the waste tire collections, call Keith Gestring of the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources at (605) 773-4216 or email him at keith.gestring@state.sd.us or visit www.spruceupsd.com. For more information about the West Nile virus, go to http://www.state.sd.us/doh/WestNile
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