Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 25, 1990 TAG: 9005250126
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: MARY BISHOP STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Authorities are still investigating the suspicious blaze that burned Sunday and Monday among an estimated 150,000 tires illegally dumped near Axton.
On Monday, county fire marshals separated some of the tire piles to slow the fire and covered it with soil. County Administrator C. Lee Lintecum said Thursday there was no more smoke at the 1 1/2-acre site on Virginia 648.
Arson had been suspected early this week. Lintecum had no comment Thursday on whether any criminal charges would be lodged.
He said Dewey Paul Newman, said to be manager of a Bassett trailer park, apparently owns the tire dump. County officials discovered the tires about a year ago.
According to Harry Gregori, policy and planning director at the state Department of Waste Management, Newman signed a draft agreement about six months ago to pay the state a $15,000 fine for stockpiling tires without a permit and to remove 4,000 of the tires each month. Gregori said the order was never finalized.
Newman could not be reached Thursday.
"Most of the tires were consumed by the fire - I'd say 85 percent," said Lintecum.
He said state water and air pollution inspectors visited the site Monday. "As far as we've been able to determine, there were no long-term pollution problems," he said.
Gregori said there are hundreds of similar tire piles around the state. His department is studying how to market old tires and perhaps use them in making asphalt.
by CNB