Deflating a Problem : City Uses Grant Money to Clean Up Illegal Dumping of Tires

When the Delgado family started their picture frame business 27 years ago, the alley behind their building was a safe place to park their cars and trucks. They could not have imagined that today it would be a mountain of discarded tires that breeds crime and puts their building at great risk of fire.

“It’s an ongoing problem,” said Antonio Delgado as he surveyed the hundreds of tires dumped in the alley. “They come at night and on the weekends to do this when they know no one is here.”

Los Angeles City Council members Rita Walters and Mark Ridley-Thomas used the alley behind the Delgados’ business as a backdrop Thursday to announce that the city will use a $30,000 grant from the California Integrated Waste Management Board for a one-time pickup of the tires, which will be recycled as fuel at cement plants.

“It’s bad by any standard and we are not going to tolerate it,” Ridley-Thomas said as trucks hauled away the tires and a crew set about beautifying the Delgados’ alley.

Ridley-Thomas said the illegal dumping has long plagued his and Walter’s districts, creating an environment that attracts graffiti and drives down property values. Officials said people dump tires to avoid paying fees to have them transported and recycled at area landfills.

The more than 200,000 discarded tires that end up on Los Angeles streets, alleys and vacant lots every year are not just an eyesore, Walters said, but also a health and fire hazard.

“It’s a blight on our neighborhoods, and people and businesses shouldn’t have to deal with it,” Walters said.

Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said there have been at least half a dozen tire fires in South-Central Los Angeles within the past year.

“Tire fires are known to be among the most stubborn because of their construction and composition,” Humphrey said. “Some tire fires have been known to burn for days.”

Humphrey said the department was also concerned about the illegal dumping because tires can collect water and provide a breeding ground for disease.

Capt. Jim Tatreau of the Los Angeles Police Department said the illegal dumping is being done by people who “take advantage of not paying fees.”

“We certainly think that some of them are people who have been hired by tire shops and gas stations to get rid of the tires,” Tatreau said. “These same people then drive three or four blocks and dump the tires.”

Newton officers recently arrested about a dozen people for dumping tires collected from used tire dealers and other sources.

Daniel Gorfain, deputy director of the California Integrated Waste Management Board, said $1.3 million will be provided this year to deal with the problem. Half of that money will go toward cleanup programs such as the one at the Delgado business. The other half of the money will be used to develop incentive programs for tire recycling, he said.

“These kinds of piles are definitely a problem throughout California,” Gorfain said. “The idea is to turn the waste into a resource.”

To help alleviate the problem of illegal dumping, the Bureau of Sanitation will open its yards on Saturdays beginning in July to accept used tires from city residents free of charge. Each household is limited to turning in five tires, and people must show they are residents of the city.