Tire fence ruled fire, health risk scheduled for removal

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A tire fence that has been the focus of debate since it was built 12 years ago will finally start coming down this week, state officials said.

Mike Fox bought 40,000 waste tires and used them to build the fence for sheep grazing after a state law took effect that prevented whole tires from being taken to landfills.

Soon after the fence was built, neighbors began complaining. The Department of Natural Resources agreed that the fence was a health and fire hazard. During the first visit in May 1991, DNR inspectors found that one-third to one-half of the tires contained water, making them ideal breeding spots for mosquitoes.

Twelve years and 14 state investigations later, the tires -- since ruled an illegal waste dump -- are about to be removed.

Uncooperative landowner

Kirk Mitchell, of the department's waste tire unit, said his agency worked with Fox beginning in 1991 but the landowner was not cooperative.

Nine years passed before the state notified Fox in August 2000 that he had to remove the tires or face legal action.

In June 2002, the Missouri attorney general's office filed a lawsuit so the state could hire a contractor to enter the property and remove the tires. In December, Circuit Court Judge Ellen Roper handed down a default judgment, allowing the state to make plans for a cleanup.

"In one tire, there can be 1,000 to 1 million mosquitoes per season," Mitchell said. "Health issues are paramount. Tires equal mosquitoes and mosquitoes equal the West Nile virus."

Costs $70,000 to remove

Alternative Fuel Source plans this week to begin removing the tires, which will be ground up and used for fuel. Les Gorden of Alternative Fuel said his company is charging a removal fee of $1.75 per tire, or an estimated total of about $70,000.

The cleanup firm will be paid from the state's tire disposal fund. For each new tire sold in Missouri, 50 cents goes into the fund. The fund has a balance of $2.8 million and is used to clean up tire dumps and pay for administration, education and grants.

The state plans to seek reimbursement from Fox, said Scott Holste, spokesman for the attorney general's office. The state will have to make up any costs that aren't recovered.

Fox, whose address is in Council Bluffs, Iowa, has not responded to summonses from the state attorney general.