An "environmental catastrophe" waiting to happen would be converted into a source of energy cleaner than coal under a proposal given the green light Thursday by El Paso County commissioners.
A 58-acre tire disposal site, with 30 million to 60 million tires about 25 miles south of Colorado Springs, will be taken over by Colorado Energy Recyclers, LLC, which plans to shred the tires and burn them in a cement plant south of Pueblo.
The proposal to switch the landfill license from Midway Landfill, Inc., was enthusiastically supported by the Colorado Department of Health and Environment, which said the site has been in violation of environmental laws for years.
"This department is not neutral," said Health Department official Charles Johnson. "We hope to see this company turn tires from a waste to a commodity. We see this as a win, win, win."
A representatives of Denver-based Colorado Energy Recyclers, formed in September, said the firm plans to build a plant on the site just west of Interstate 25 to shred the tires. The shredded tires would then be used to supplement coal in fueling a cement plant in Pueblo for which the company still has to obtain a permit from Pueblo County.
That's not seen as a huge hurdle, though, because tires burn cleaner than coal, said attorney and company spokesman Paul Seby.
El Paso County Fire Marshal Jim Reid said he's happy to see someone take control of the site and remove the tires, which he fears could become a nightmare if ignited. That's not an unlikely scenario, considering there were three brush fires between the Midway site and Fort Carson last summer, Johnson said.
"You're talking about a major, major environmental catastrophe," Reid said, noting smoke from the burning tires would close Interstate 25 and fill the air with carcinogens.
Burning tires spew deadly chemicals, including hydrocarbons, dioxins, hydrogen chloride, arsenic, nickel, zinc and chromium, which can cause skin, eye and respiratory tract maladies, as well as cancer.
"This would probably burn for a year or longer," he said.
Commissioners unanimously approved the license transfer.
"As much as anyone can get excited about old tires," commission Chairman Dennis Hisey said, "I'm excited for someone to take this on."
According to the assessor, the property is owned by Wilexco, Inc., of Littleton, which in 2000 proposed using the tires to generate power to be sold to Public Service Co. of Colorado. That plan never materialized.
Before that, the site was owned by Vernie and Lonnie Houtchens, who received a landfill permit from the county in November 1989 when regulations required tires to be buried. Since then, state regulations have been changed to promote recycling, county planner Mark Gebhart said.
The license transfer approved Thursday is conditional on the sale of the property to the company, which could occur Monday. Gebhart said the company still would have to obtain a permit from the county to conduct recycling operations at the Midway site.