Colorado targets tire landfills and subsidies to bolster recycling
FOUNTAIN — Colorado’s role as a morgue for 60 million of the nation’s 100 million scrap tires is over: State lawmakers are shutting down tire landfills. A state-run $5.8 million subsidy program for tire recyclers also will end — by 2018 — under a bill that Gov. John Hickenlooper said Monday he will sign into law.
Sprawling heaps of scrap tires — like the ones south of Colorado Springs and northeast of Denver at Hudson — are seen as environmental and health hazards. In addition to the fear of a large fire, the sites can act as havens for rats, rattlesnakes and virus-spreading mosquitoes. As well, support for the recycling subsidies soured among lawmakers after a questionable operator collected $578,246 in state funds and later was investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A journalist and lawyer, Bruce Finley has investigated local, national and international issues with on-site reporting in more than 40 countries. In his position as a staff writer for the Denver Post, he is focusing on environment-related news including water challenges, the oil and gas boom and wildfire.
