The tribe recently removed 5,000 tires from an abandoned landfill on the outskirts of Towaoc.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey attract rodents and leach chemicals into the ground, so we are in the process of removing them,\u201d said Quinton Jacket, brownfields coordinator for the tribe\u2019s environmental department. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a ways to go still.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead of hauling them to a landfill for disposal, the tribe decided to try and recycle them into building material. Tires were baled into large one-ton blocks using a specialized tire bailer contracted from JLM Inc., of Pagosa Springs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s different from a regular bailer,\u201d Jacket explained. \u201cThe tires are set into a certain pattern, compressed together into a block and wrapped with strong cables.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fifty tires from large construction equipment and semis, and also from regular cars and trucks, are expertly arranged to make up one bale. The specialized baler can do up to six bales in two hours.<\/p>\n
The tribe loaded up 150 of the bales onto flat-bed semis and delivered them to the Montezuma County Landfill, where manager Deb Barton took over.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re planning to use them for retaining walls and to improve one of our loading docks,\u201d she said. \u201cOnce they are baled, there are more uses for them than just loose tires, although it is a challenge to move these large blocks around.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once set in place, tire-bale walls can be spruced up by applying chicken wire and stucco. The 60-foot 12-foot wide blocks are interlocked together like Legos, Barton said, and can also be used for non-load bearing sections of buildings. Other uses include berms, barricades, and for erosion control.<\/p>\n
The landfill may use them to construct a holding area for electronic wastes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re happy to be working with the tribe on this,\u201d Barton said. \u201cWe like the idea of value added. It\u2019s an experiment. Why not try it, and if it works, who knows, maybe there is a market out there for baled tires.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tribe is planning to remove the remainder of the tires from the old Towaoc landfill site soon.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are disease vectors, collecting standing water for mosquitoes that may carry West Nile, or rodents with hantavirus,\u201d said Scott Clow, environmental programs director for the tribe. \u201cWe want to limit our risks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Officials want to reorganize where old tires are stored for eventual removal, and increase security at the old tire dump.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of our biggest problems is people who are not part of the community have been dumping their tires here at odd hours,\u201d Jacket said. \u201cIt is not a secure site.\u201d<\/p>\n