Tire disposal project stalled by red tape

The city of Olney has stalled in its efforts to remove a huge pile of tires from an abandoned service station on Main Street because the $41,000 grant it received to remove them is mired in red tape, City Administrator Arpegea Pagsuberon said.

In April, the North Texas Regional Planning Commission awarded the grant to Olney to clean up about 10 trailers full of passenger and commercial vehicle tires from 301 E. Main Street beside the First Baptist Church of Olney. At the time, the city also said it would invite residents with tires stacked on their property to dispose of them.

But the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality held up the tire grant after learning that the tires sit on a privately owned site, Mrs. Pagsuberon said. The city was considering repossessing the abandoned property for $40,000 in back property taxes but recently learned that it may have to remove underground gas tanks that have leaked in the past, and remediate them. “Their concern is, are they using state funds to help clean up somebody’s mess,” City Administrator Arpegea Pagsubern said. “We are working with the EPA … to remediate those tanks. ”

The station’s owners, Rosana Cruz Corwin and Mark Brandon Corwin, were indicted in May on felony charges of receiving used tires for disposal in a place that was not an approved solid waste site, the indictment said. The city must negotiate with the school and hospital taxing districts over the back taxes the Corwins owe on the properties, Mrs. Pagsubern said.

Remediating the tanks could take “years” and the city is considering amending the grant proposal to allow it to purchase a tire shredder to take care of the tires at the abandoned services station, she said.