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ENVIRONMENT DEQ will haul away thousands of tires from White City site By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Oct. 14, 2015 @ 5:22 pm Updated Oct 14, 2015 at 5:23 PM By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Oct. 14, 2015 @ 5:22 pm Updated Oct 14, 2015 at 5:23 PM » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2325,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> WHITE CITY — One of the worst tire dumps White City has seen in the 21st century is set to disappear Thursday. Cleanup crews this morning will begin hauling away a few thousand scrap tires pushed into an alley off White City's Avenue G when a recycling and freight-hauling business went belly-up, leaving more than 14,000 mosquito-growing, fire-causing and lightning-drawing tires in its wake. The state Department of Environmental Quality has tried to get the company's former owner, Gary McDonald, to remove them and began a formal enforcement action against him in April 2014, DEQ records show. McDonald recently hauled away several trailer-loads' worth of tires, which he accumulated over years of running a wrecking business and what he hoped would become a tire recycling business, says David Esch, the DEQ's solid waste specialist. "What's left is just the tip of the iceberg," Esch says. "There were, conservatively, more than 14,000 here at one time. This is what fell off the trucks and got left behind. "It's one of the worst ones recently, for sure," Esch says. "There were a couple big ones 20-some years ago." The DEQ recently seized a $5,000 performance bond McDonald put up for one of his businesses, Pacific Freight Express, as part of its waste-carrier permit, Esch says. McDonald's other company tied to the tires was White City Recycling, where many of the tires were taken off car bodies that were crushed, he says. The performance bond money will cover the cost of Thursday's removal only, Esch says. Old, unusable tires are tough to get rid of in Southern Oregon, with the cleaner ones sold to a Redding, Calif., cement plant that burns them for energy, Esch says. These tires likely are destined for the one place most Oregon waste tires go to die — a Prineville-area landfill dedicated solely to tires, Esch says. On Wednesday, Esch filed a DEQ enforcement referral for alleged storage violations for tires on McDonald's property. McDonald did not answer telephone calls today seeking comment. Oregon law allows anyone to possess up to 100 excess tires at any given property, provided they are stacked, covered and otherwise properly managed under state regulations. Improperly stored tires can accumulate rainwater and become home to mass mosquito hatches. They are also a fire threat, and they emit thick, noxious smoke deemed a health hazard when they burn. "If you get too many of them, they attract lightning," Esch says. "That's a problem." Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or [email protected] . Follow him at www.twitter.com/MTwriterFreeman . By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Oct. 14, 2015 @ 5:22 pm Updated Oct 14, 2015 at 5:23 PM » Comment or view comments Terms of Service /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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