AGREEMENT: COMPANY MAKES A DEAL FOR THE REMOVAL OF TIRES

MOUNDS, Ill. -- The mounds of tires about 7 million tons of them that have been stored on the ADM-GrowMark property at Mounds will be removed in the near future.

"We have entered into an agreement with Ecology Enterprise Inc. of Iowa for the removal of the tires," said Richard E. Burket of Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM), of Decatur, Ill. "The Iowa firm will use the tires in their tire reclamation business."

Burket told the Southeast Missourian that removal of the tires should get under way before Thanksgiving.

"No one has been in contact with me," said Mounds Mayor Marguerite Ward Saturday. "We'll just have to wait and see."

Ward said she would prefer to see a tire recycling center here.

"A new recycling center would provide more employment for our community," she said.

A planned tire recycling center that never developed is the reason the tires are at Mounds.

Burket said the property had been leased a couple of years ago and the tires had been placed there during the time the property was leased.

"We understand that a tire recycling center had been planned for the area, but it didn't work out," said Burket. "The tires were left there at that time."

Mounds city officials were concerned that the tires would create a mosquito problem.

The city is spraying the tire area twice a month now, in accordance with EPA regulations.

"We'll probably have to spray one more time," said Ward. "The mosquito problem will disappear with the cooler weather."

Some people in the area were concerned about the possibility of fire, noted Ward.

"It wasn't a major concern, however," she said. "Tire fires are difficult to start. But, if a tire fire does start, it's difficult to put out."

Larry Harrison of the state fire marshal's office at Marion told Mounds officials during a July meeting that a tire fire was "almost impossible to put out."

"The only way to put out a tire fire is by smothering it," said Harrison. "It would take tons of sand to put out a fire involving that many tires."