An aerial shot of tires that officials say were illegally dumped near Northeast Philadelphia Airport. (6abc)
This story originally appeared on 6abc.
The city of Philadelphia is preparing to clean up hundreds of illegally dumped tires discovered in a wooded area near the Northeast Philadelphia Airport after a concerned resident alerted Action News to the site.
“It’s bad for the neighborhood. We know it’s against the law and it’s dangerous having all of those tires there,” said Paul Kaplan of Morrell Park. He said this is the third time this year tires have been dumped in his neighborhood.
Chopper 6 footage showed stacks of tires visible from Academy Road. Kaplan said the dumpers often arrive “in the middle of the night,” leaving truck tracks behind.
Action News contacted the city’s Office of Clean and Green Initiatives, which said in a statement, “We will be working to collect the tires in the upcoming weeks.” The office added that the “hidden perplex location” of the site will require additional coordination and equipment.
“Probably whoever is doing this goes around to different shops and gets them, and the shops don’t have to pay the full disposal fee,” Kaplan said.
City officials said that over the past two years, Parks and Recreation has issued more than $1 million in fines for illegal dumping, which costs the city about $2 million annually. To address the problem, the city is increasing the number of cameras at known dumping locations.
“We want to encourage people to take a second to think before tossing stuff out,” said Avarisse Crawford, chief of staff for North 10 Philadelphia, an organization that focuses on quality-of-life issues in Hunting Park and East Tioga.
North 10 recently launched a program offering residents $120 vouchers to dispose of trash legally through a partnership with Burns Recycling. “It’s an incentive to basically say don’t put your stuff here, take this voucher and bring it over to our partners at Burns Recycling,” said Josh Klaris of North 10 Philadelphia. The site accepts all nonhazardous trash, including tires.
“I hope they can find who is doing this and put a stop to this. I’m getting tired of having this because it is a health risk and potentially dangerous,” Kaplan said.
City officials said they plan to announce an illegal dumping task force in the coming weeks to strengthen enforcement efforts. Residents are urged to report illegal dumping by calling 311.