AG: Champaign County Tire Recycler Creates Health Hazard

Illinois’ Attorney General has filed a 6-count complaint against a Champaign County tire recycler,  saying the tires served as a breeding ground for West Nile Virus.

Each of the counts against Astro Tire Removal of Thomasboro carries a possible civil penalty of $50-thousand, and $10-thousand each day the violations continue.

Since 2009, Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office says the business has left thousands of used tires outdoors in violation of state environmental safety standards. 

Attorney General Spokesman Scott Mulford says his office was referred there by the state EPA.

“Used tires not adequately stacked, and not adequately processed that way that regulations dictate," he said.  "Especially in warm weather months in sort of heat that we all just experienced in Central Illinois.”

The case was filed in Champaign County on Aug. 23, and will allow about a month for a response.

A manager at the business said he wasn’t aware of the complaint, and referred calls to an attorney, John Taylor of Springfield.  He hasn’t returned a call seeking comment.