ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Monday, March 25, 1996                 TAG: 9603250128
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL   PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: ILWACO, WASH. 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
note: below 

RECYCLED TIRES PAVE THESE ROADS TO HELL

What at first seemed like a brilliant way of getting rid of mountains of old tires has now given new meaning to the old saying about what paves the road to hell.

Two highways repaired with chunks of rubber are smoking and oozing a toxic, oily goo that is threatening nearby marshes on the Columbia River.

Digging the mess out will cost more than $1 million.

The state used the rubber from a million recycled tires in place of rock or gravel to provide 7,000 cubic feet of fill when it rebuilt a 150-foot stretch of state Route 100 here in October.

The road runs atop an embankment above Baker Bay, a pretty inlet at the mouth of the Columbia River, tucked into the little curlicue at the state's southwest tip.

The first sign of trouble came in December when asphalt pavement laid over the fill began to crack, split and give off wisps of noxious smoke, with temperatures up to 160 degrees.

Some of that buried rubber had started burning, apparently through natural processes, similar to what heats up a compost pile. And as the rubber heats up, it releases a goo that oozes to the surface and flows onto the mud flats below, dangerously close to a saltwater marsh and freshwater wetlands.

It smells like creosote, with a burned-plastic undertone.

And the underground combustion is generating toxins such as benzene, a known carcinogen, said Coast Guard Lt. Rob Myles.

Workers at the site must wear protective masks.

In southeastern Washington, a 350-foot stretch of a Garfield County road has been emitting smoke - and even flames - since January at the site of another repair job late last year that used chipped tires.

Both roads have been closed. The removal of the tires may begin as early as this week.

``They're going to go in and take the part that's burning out,'' said Dana Humphrey at the University of Maine.

Above-ground tire fires are not uncommon, but this rubber is underground, with not enough air to allow complete combustion.

``There's never been a tire fire under a road. There's no history of methods to use,'' said Joe Zellibor, a former science adviser to the Scrap-Tire Management Council of the Rubber Manufacturers Association.

LENGTH: Medium:   54 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:   AP Noxious fumes rise from cracks in the road in 
          Ilwaco, Wash. The roadbed fill is made of rubber from recycled 
          tires.  color