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■ i rii r TIRE FIRE ters that read "S.F. Royster Tire tire in 2000 to clean up both the Disposal" — offer no evidence Royster and Westley sites, Royster tire fire of what started the horrific blaze remove other illegal tire piles Continued from s� that August afternoon. and set up market-development Site to be cleaned going to get as much of the stuff "When it started off, we programs and a waste-tire track- out of there as they can." would try to predict how long it ing system to prevent the cre- The Royster fire was allowed Would take to burn out," ation of new tire dumps. / to burn out,unlike a similar fire Fragoso said. "We started with Fragoso doesn't blame Roys- Grant line fid: that started at Filbin Tire in two weeks, then two months, ter for the fire, saying the man m TRACY nearby Westley just over a year then six months. After six simply provided a place for peo- Unne tea. later. With the Westley fire, the months, we stopped predicting, ple to bring millions of used U.S. Environmental Protection because we were always wrong." tires. Durham r Agency paid $4.5 million and In December 2000, the state As far as we're concerned, it W-7 hired Texas oil-fire experts to finally snuffed the smoky fire, was a blessing in disguise," Munkoa' 33 �+p put it out, Peck said. It was and the legal wrangling over Fragoso said. "It was a solution MacArthur 32 ,ecce extinguished in 34 days. who would clean up the site — to the problem (of having so or. The cleanup of the Filbin site and how—began to heat up. many tires stockpiled). is nearly complete,and the state The state has spent roughly "Everyone made Royster look has gone to court to recover the $400,000 so far on the Royster like some kind of criminal, but Record estimated$20 million it cost. site, and the waste-manage- he was doing a service," he With the Royster fire, officials ment board is pursuing the added."The problem would still "They're going to put a lot of decided putting the fire out Royster estate to recover the cost be there if it weren't for the fire. money into a hole in the ground would cause worse damage to of extinguishing the fire and It was a situation that took that nobody seems to want in the environment. future cleanup efforts. about 20 years to accumulate, the first place,"he said."It was a The water "would have just The state has slapped a lien and they'd give him six months waste pit,basically,for 40 years. forced those oils down into the on the Royster property for $9 to resolve it." What would they do with it?It'll groundwater,"Peck said. million, which is the estimated Fragoso doesn't see the need be another 40 years before you On Friday, Fragoso walked cleanup cost,officials said. to clean up the site. He said a get somebody who would be through the site,where mounds For the time being,the state is layer of clay underground stops able to utilize it.' of wires from the tires'steel belts paying for the cleanup with the toxins from seeping into the E To reach reporter Victor Balta, and some old trucks — includ- funds from the state's tire fee, groundw lip,gif ing one with stenciled black let- which was increased to $1 per