SACRAMENTO, Calif.-Royster Tire Co. plans to appeal a court judgment that upheld the state's power to begin regulating established scrap tire storage sites, such as Royster's 7-million-tire stockpile in San Joaquin County, Calif. Royster claimed that its scrap tire processing business has been operating since 1983 under a conditional local use permit and shouldn't have to meet permitting standards and requirements established by California's Solid Waste Management Act in 1989.
To obtain a state permit, Royster would have to finance a $20 million closure bond, owner Chuck Royster said.
Oxford pile may vanish in 4 years
SACRAMENTO, Calif.-Oxford Tire Recycling of Northern California Inc. has agreed to expedite the cleanup of 7 million tires, according to the California Integrated Waste Management Board.
Modesto Energy Limited Partnership, which operates a tires-to-energy plant near Oxford's tire pile in Westley, Calif., will burn the tires at an adjusted rate to keep pace with a new timetable to eliminate the pile in four years, rather than the originally proposed 14 years. Tires may also be diverted to a monofill.
In turn, the CIWMB adjusted Oxford's closure bond requirement from $3 million to $1 million plus $15,000 monthly deposits into the closure trust fund.
R-B sales surge as earnings plunge
MCMINNVILLE, Ore.-R-B Rubber Products Inc., a maker of recycled-rubber mats and protective surfaces, boosted its first-quarter sales 43.8 percent to $1.10 million, while earnings dropped 31.9 percent to $4,116, compared with the year-earlier quarter.
After reporting losses in the second half of 1995, the company said it significantly improved its standing with expanded marketing efforts that opened several new accounts and boosted sales.
The company, founded in 1985, plans to install equipment to handle higher volumes of truck tire chips at its McMinnville facility.
EPA seeks return of safe Tire costs
DALLAS-The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking repayment of a $1.3 million emergency grant it issued to Safe Tire Disposal Corp. to cover the costs of fighting a Dec. 1 fire at the firm's Midlothian, Texas, tire processing plant.
Company President Scott Holden said his attorney is trying to negotiate a settlement with the EPA, which is demanding initial payment of $97,853.
Six days into the plant's fire, Safe Tire sought state help after it was unable to continue its financial obligations to a private contractor handling the fire-suppression and cleanup. The state then solicited the EPA.
Iowa to put cash into tire program
DES MOINES, Iowa-Iowa enacted a new scrap tire law April 17 that establishes a waste tire management fund and a grant program to support counties' abatement efforts.
For the next six years, the fund will garner about $15 million from a $5 surcharge on vehicle titles.
Joe Kelly, executive director of the Iowa Tire Dealers Association, said this is the first legislation to provide money for scrap tire management.
The fund will support counties' cleanups and processing projects, award money to colleges that use tire derived fuel and offer grants of up to $20,000 to processors.
WRI feels growth pains in 1st qtr.
DALLAS-Waste Recovery Inc. (WRI) continued to suffer financial setbacks as it expanded its production capacity during the first quarter of 1996.
WRI reported a net loss of $584,410, compared with a $26,154 net profit in the year-earlier quarter, on flat sales.
WRI said its two Illinois and its Philadelphia TDF plants operated at a loss due to harsh weather conditions that inhibited tire flow during the quarter. Tire flow increased in April and so far in May with a larger customer base and new tire pile abatement projects.
WRI's Baytown, Texas, plant, shut down for six weeks for installation of a wire recycling system, has since achieved record production rates in April and into May.
Tires avoid listing as haz-mat export
WASHINGTON-A proposal to list scrap tires as a hazardous waste in an international regulatory agreement went unresolved at a meeting of The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal in Kuala Lumpur April 22-25.
The Convention, which sets strict limits on which waste items and substances countries can export, was to consider Brazil's motion to have scrap tires placed on the prohibited list during the meeting.
But discussion of the issue was postponed after a few countries raised concerns about scrap tire fires and others championed tires' usefulness in retreading and recycling. The convention will meet again this September in London.