The second is a concerted effort to remove the pernicious threat to public health and the environment posed by illegally dumped scrap tires. The initial effort, which involves 100 young people, began removing scrap tires from 14 sites in Baltimore City on June 30. The students were paid from the State Used Tire Cleanup and Recycling Fund. This fund, established in 1991, is generated from the collection of one dollar from every new tire sold in Maryland. The Maryland Department of the Environment uses the fund for scrap tire cleanup projects, construction of scrap tire playgrounds, demonstration projects and for the implementation of the licensing program.
Scrap tires present a unique environmental and public health challenge.
If ignited, the piles are a formidable problem for fire fighters. The heat from such a blaze is intense, long lasting and generates thick black smoke with a noxious odor. The resulting fire can produce oil from melting tires, polluting soil as well as ground and surface waters. A new passenger tire contains more than four gallons of oil and a new large truck tire can contain up to 22 gallons. The scrap tire piles are also breeding grounds for mosquitos that lay eggs in pools of water that collect inside the tires after rainfall.