Thanks to a quick response by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, several big-rig truck tires dumped Monday near the Big Piney River are gone.
The tires were found next to the Gardner Ford bridge on U.S. 63 between Houston and Cabool.
DNR spokesperson Renee Dungart said that the tires had been removed via a joint effort with the Missouri Department of Corrections, which had provided a trailer for them to be hauled away in. A DOC Missouri Vocational Enterprises (MVE) crew loaded the trailer Wednesday morning, and the former eyesores were on their way north to be put to good use.
“We see tire dumps like this fairly often, and we work a lot with the MVE to get them picked up,” Dungart said. “A lot of times, the University of Missouri uses them for fuel, but there are a lot of other uses for them, too, like playground material and mousepads. And grants are available for many of those uses.”
The tire dump site was first reported to the Herald by a citizen on the evening of April 23. After traveling to the location that night, Herald reporter Doug Davison informed the Texas County Sheriff’s Department and the Missouri Department of Transportation the following morning. MoDOT then contacted DNR, and the wheels were in motion.
“We want to thank the citizen and the Herald for helping get the word to us about this,” Dungart said, “because we can’t be everywhere, but we want to get this kind of thing taken care of as quickly as possible.”
People who discover tire dumps can report them by filling out a form on the DNR website at www.dnr.mo.gov (click on “report an environmental concern”), or by calling 800-361-4827. DNR also offers a tire roundup program designed to help individuals and nonprofit organizations clean up tire dumps (but not businesses).
Lt. Melissa Dunn said the sheriff’s department and DNR are still investigating who might have dumped the tires. She said that several tire manufacturers around the country have been contacted, but that numbers on the tires are basically lot numbers that indicate when a tire was made, rather than serial numbers that could track the paths of individual units.
Dunn also said that investigators believe the tires probably didn’t come from a farm property, because they lacked farm-related evidence such as hay. Many larger tire companies in the immediate area and all the way to Springfield have also been contacted.
“We’re on this and we’re not giving up,” Dunn said. “This is a pretty big deal; one of Texas County best resources is the rivers, so we’re very interested when something like happens and we want to solve it and find out who’s responsible.”
The sheriff’s department is seeking information from anyone who may have seen the dumping occur at Gardner Ford or has information to share. Call the sheriff’s department at 417-967-4165.