TRR photo by David Hulse (Click for larger image)

Tire amnesty: a blowout success

MONTICELLO — Sullivan County Director of Solid Waste Management John Kehlenbeck is pictured at the county landfill, on May 3, overlooking some of the tires collected at county stations during last week’s first-ever county tire amnesty program.

The first weekend’s collection, over 4,100 old tires, was admittedly larger than officials had expected, as some participants incorporated roadside cleanup activities into what had been designed as a residential cleanup program.

Sullivan also accepts tires amid other roadside litter in its Litterpluck program.

Although the amnesty allowed a discounted rate for only six tires, Department of Public Works Commissioner Peter Lilholt said many persons arrived with 20 and 30 tires and paid the full disposal cost for the overage. “People have been quite good…. The important thing is that these tires are getting cleaned up,” Lilholt said.