105
Tons of Tires Removed From the County
Since
March of 2001, the Huntingdon County Conservation District and local
PA CleanWays chapter have coordinated the cleanup of over 10,500 tires.
The District received $10,000 to properly dispose of tires in Huntingdon
County. The Department of Environmental Protection, the District, and
the PA CleanWays chapter are concerned about tires left outside because
they provide excellent breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Since mosquitoes
carry the West Nile virus, deadly to humans, removing their breeding
grounds is of utmost concern. Tires are excellent breeding grounds for
mosquitoes for several reasons. The tires hold water which is needed
to deposit the mosquito eggs. The dark color of the tire maintains heat,
reducing the gestation period. And since there are no currents to sweep
away vegetation and few predators in the tires, the survival rate of
the larvae increases. Tires left outside are more likely to fill with
water increasing the mosquito breeding grounds.
Most of the tires were collected at municipal bulky waste collections,
but over 400 were pulled out of the environment at three cleanups. Because
of the overwhelming success of this program, the Conservation District
has been given verbal acknowledgment to receive $10,000 in 2002 for
the disposal of tires. Plans by the District and chapter are underway
to remove more tires from the county.
| Location
Location
| Quantity
Collected |
| Three
Springs Borough |
9.6
tons |
| Saltillo
Borough |
.9
tons |
| Huntingdon
Borough |
12.8
tons |
| Petersburg
Borough |
3.5
tons |
| Oneida
Township |
9.8
tons |
| Jackson
Township |
14.1
tons |
| Miller
Township |
11.0
tons |
| Smithfield
Township |
2.8
tons |
| Ames
Plaza Collection |
36.4
tons approx. |
| Lockes
Valley Road Cleanup |
200
tires (approx. 2 tons) |
| Little
Juniata River Cleanup |
35
tires (approx. .4 tons) |
| State
Route 641 Cleanup |
204
tires (approx. 2 tons) |
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This page last updated:
February 18, 2004
