Nixon files suit against tire dump

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Attorney General Jay Nixon filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking to force a cleanup at a dump that contains an estimated 1 million tires.

The dump, located off Missouri A about eight miles west of Archie in southern Cass County, is believed to be the largest remaining tire dump in Missouri, the attorney general's office said. The tires have been dumped in old mining ravines and caves during the last several years.

Nixon is suing Harlan L. Limpus, of Lake Winnebago, and Ronald D. Limpus, of Harrisonville, who operated a quarry at the site for at least 10 years. Also named as defendant is the Jim Robbins Co., a Kansas City waste tire hauler that Nixon said dumped the waste tires on the property through and agreement with Limpus Quarries.

The attorney general said he sued because efforts by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to force the defendants to clean up the site have been unsuccessful.

If the defendants refuse to clean up the site, Nixon wants the court to allow the state to remove the tires, with the defendants paying for it.