Breitung Township has been awarded grant money totaling $79,248 as part of the Michigan Scrap Tire Cleanup Program.
Funds from the program will help Breitung Township clean up two scrap tire sites, located at a junk yard at the end of Menominee Street in Quinnesec and a large pile of scrap tires located on State Street in East Kingsford.....
 The tires on State Street were involved in an arson fire on Sunday, Jan. 9, 2005.
The fire was eventually extinguished by using a combination of water, fire-fighting foam and a large amount of dirt, said Jeff Iverson, Breitung Township Fire Chief.
The fire continued to smolder for several months, causing environmental and health concerns.
“There are approximately 18,000 to 20,000 tires on that property wanted to see removed,” said Breitung Township Superintendent Steve Soltis. “It was just a matter of cost.”
Soltis had said that the owner of the State Street property is in no hurry to come back to Michigan to resolve the situation.
“The owner has offered to sell the land to the township, but his asking price of approximately $80,000 is too high for the township,” he said.
The township missed the grant filing deadline for 2005 funding, but submitted an application in time to be considered for 2006.
One concern the township had was finding a company authorized to handle the job.
“The Michigan DEQ only awards grant money for this kind of project if a licensed Michigan tire removal service and recycler handles the job,” Soltis said. “The bad thing is, all of the licensed companies are in southern Lower Michigan and it’s not worth their time and effort to come to the U.P. for the money the township would be able to spend,” he said.
“We will now work with the DEQ so that the township will have to pay as little as possible to clean up these eyesores,” he said.
Because the grant money allotted is to be used for the cleanup of abandoned tires, a spokesperson for the DEQ told The Daily News the state does not make a policy of going after the property owners for reimbursement of the cleanup cost.
Story and photo above from The Iron Mountain Daily News. |
