October 11, 2006

Department of Environmental Quality Director Steven E. Chester announced today that the department has issued an order summarily suspending the scrap tire collection site registration of Alternative Fuels L.C., a processor of scrap tires located in Barryton in Mecosta County. The order prohibits Alternative Fuels from accumulating additional scrap tires and continuing its tire processing operations at the collection site.

The Department of Attorney General filed a formal administrative complaint on behalf of the DEQ against the company to revoke the registration based on alleged violations of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act. The DEQ’s order is effective until the administrative hearing resulting from the complaint is completed.

“The company’s improper disposal of scrap tires posed a threat to our environment, and to the health of the community,” said Director Chester. “We must ensure that those who would put our families at risk are held accountable for their actions."

The actions being announced today are the result of a long history of noncompliance with Michigan scrap tire regulations by Alternative Fuels and the threat to public health, safety, welfare, and the environment posed by the conditions at the collection site. The site contains over one million improperly stored scrap tires located close to an elementary school, a number of domestic water wells, and adjacent to the North Branch of the Chippewa River. State and local officials have expressed concern about the threat of a tire fire at the site, and the DEQ has given numerous warnings to Alternative Fuels of the threats posed by their site.

Alternative Fuels has not maintained a bond for the collection site since 2002, despite efforts by the DEQ to require it. Michigan law requires the owner of a collection site to provide a bond for the costs of responding to a fire or an emergency at a collection site and for the removal of the scrap tires from the site if the owner becomes insolvent or fails to remove the tires when ordered by a court.

"Alternative Fuels collection site in Barryton remains in non-compliance with Michigan's environmental laws,” said Attorney General Mike Cox. “The threat that one million scrap tires could ignite and endanger the people of Barryton and the ecosystem of the Chippewa River warranted the immediate suspension of the company's operating registration."

Illegally disposed and improperly managed scrap tires can result in public health, environmental, and aesthetic problems for many communities. The illegally stored scrap tires present a serious fire threat and are an ideal breeding ground for disease-carrying mosquitoes.

Editor’s note: DEQ news releases are available on the department’s Internet home page at www.michigan.gov/deq.

“Protecting Michigan’s Environment, Ensuring Michigan’s Future”

Revised October 11, 2006 by Pat Watson