PR0535342 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Enviromnent report on h )' .d. Fly Jim Nicldes Record Staff Writer Royster tire fire �,1 of other firefires TRACY — Melodic Grizoffi and her that burn for months and family have been living with the continues to burnmonths.Its „ not that unusual noxious odor of burning tires for . nearly six months. — Dave Schmidt, The smell, which wafts out of a huge 12 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency –pit about a half-mile away, is particu- 05 � larly pungent late at night and early in � �` ---Grant Line"Rd. the morning, said Grizoffi, a homemak- m' TRACY dumping volumes of water on the blaze er who fives with her husband and 5 � °. could have spread the contamination. three young daughters in a double-wide N mobile home on South MacArthur Linne Rd. The fire is still being monitored by a `\ Drive. v l � collection of local, state and federal But what she's really worried about, E Durham Ferry agencies. But officials say they really she said, is whether the mass of smol- Tracy can't assess the extent of the soil or dering tires — the remnants of the S.F. Municipal 33 ,,yrs grotmdwater contamination, if any, whtil Tire re Disposal yard that erupted Airport gp _� the fire goes out. Q�� ° in flames in early August — poses a MacArthur oa � And no one knows when that will be.<, threat to her well's water supply. Dr. 80 ��' The fire's long life surprised a lot of "I don't know. I told my husband I'd ° 'ar�� people; said Dave Schmidt, a spokes- like to know. We have three kids. We're ` man for the U.S. Environmental Pro- all drinking the water," she said tection Agency in San Francisco. "But Looking like a cross between Dante's Record I've heard of other tire fires that burn Inferno and the Mlauea volcano, the for months and months. It's not that notorious Royster tire pile has melted whacker ignited some dry grass inside unusual. As long as it's burning, it's down to a thick black mass of molten the old gravel quarry, where Royster better to let it burn." petroleum jelly, known in tire-fire circles had stockpiled used tires since the "Everything is still pending, unfortu- as pyrolitic oil. While most of the 198Os. The state Integrated Waste nately," said John Frith, a spokesman 7 million-plus collection of old Good- Management Board said the pile did for the Integrated Waste Management years and Firestones has burned itself not comply with health and fire- Board. "It's a little frustrating for every- out, flames still shoot upward along the safety regulations. It had grown to an one. But there's not a whole lot anyone pit's northern flank, spewing a thin estimated 7 million to 8 million tires — can do until the fire burns out." haze across the neighborhood. one of the largest in California. Air-quality monitoring that's contin- Residents are getting tired of the Royster, who had waged a lengthy ued since the height of the fire has not stink, said retiree Walter Frey, who lives legal battle with the state, died after a found any measurable increase in soot, in the nearby Tracy suburb of Fair- long illness a few days after the fire dust or other particulates, said Casey haven. started. Foley, an environmental-health specialist "You can smell it right now, Frey officials decided to let the fire burn with San Joaquin County's Environmen- said. "What I'm really worried about is itself out. Because they involve such a tal Health Division. the environmental damage." volatile mass of chemicals, officials said, The fire started Aug. 7, when a weed- tire fires are difficult to put out, and Please see TIRES,Back page