Tire collection exceeds officials' expectations

Submitted by Jennifer Milliren, Communications Specialist for Wahkiakum Health and Human Services

Wahkiakum County's first-ever Tire Amnesty Day rolled in thousands of tires over the weekend. On Saturday, Wahkiakum County Health and Human Services, in partnership with Washington State Department of Ecology, hosted the free tire disposal event at the fairgrounds in Skamokawa. Residents were invited to bring as many tires as they could load, some even making several trips throughout the morning.

"We were expecting to receive up to a thousand tires," stated Environmental Health Specialist McKenna Todd. "We ended up collecting around 4,000."

Several county employees and their families, as well as Wahkiakum High School FFA, helped at the event, directing traffic and unloading tires.

"We had a lot of volunteers – more than we expected to," Todd commented. "It would not have gone that smoothly without them."

The closest place residents can safely dispose of tires is in Longview, creating a burden for many residents of Wahkiakum County. The Tire Amnesty event allowed many residents a chance to clean up tires from their property, reducing the risks of pests like rodents and mosquitoes, as well as scrap tire fires, which are difficult to extinguish and can burn for long periods.

The tires will be removed from the fairgrounds this week by Liberty Tire Recycling, where they will be repurposed into safe products and materials.