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Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Environment - Two stories about tire processing facilities today

A press release issued by Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter this afternnon reports:

Muncie -- Criminal pleas have been entered in Delaware Circuit Court by the owners of CR3, the former tire processing site where tires burned for several days in 2003. Bill and Michael Gruppe have each entered guilty pleas to violating the state’s environmental laws announced Attorney General Steve Carter today. The pleas have been taken under advisement by Judge Robert Barnet, Jr. Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) Commissioner Thomas W. Easterly joined Carter for the announcement.

“Environmental crimes can be devastating to a community. The pleas entered today can bring resolution to a case that has had had a physical and lasting effect on Muncie and its residents,” Attorney General Steve Carter said.

A fire broke out at the tire processing plant in August of ’03 and burned for several days. Owners Bill and Michael Gruppe have each entered guilty pleas before the Judge to a criminal charge for failing to report their tire business activity on the Mt. Pleasant Blvd. facility (class B misdemeanor). Additionally, CR3, as a limited liability company, has also entered a guilty plea through its owners to one Class D felony resulting from illegal storage of waste tires off-site.

[In addition] The Attorney General and IDEM are pursuing a civil agreement seeking civil penalties and costs of clean up at the site where mounds of burnt and shredded tires remain smoldering under a cap of dirt.

The agreement could include:

  1. $500,000 to be placed in escrow for remediation and clean up of the site.
  2. $100,000 civil penalty.
  3. Bill and Michael Gruppe could be prohibited from operating or maintaining a tire processing or storage facility in Indiana in the future.
Criminal charges were filed in September 2004 via the Delaware County Prosecutors Office based on the investigative efforts of the Attorney General’s Office, the Prosecutor’s Office and IDEM. Deputy Attorneys General, and former prosecutors, Cindy Crispin and Sierra Cutts were deputized by the Delaware County Prosecutor for the case.
Here is this morning's Fort Wayne Journal Gazette / AP coverage of the story, headlined "Brothers, company plead guilty to charges in 2003 fire."

Here is an update from the Indianapolis Star, including this photo.

In another item today about tire processors, the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reports:

A tire retreading company wants to more than double the size of its northwest Fort Wayne facility.

Isaac Tire plans to construct a 57,326-square-foot building south of its existing warehouse and office at 3521 Independence Drive, in the Congressional Industrial Park off Hillegas Road. The Fort Wayne Plan Commission heard the proposal at its meeting Monday night.

The company, which retreads worn truck tires so they can be reused, operates from a 54,800-square-foot facility, said Mary McManus of Donovan Engineering, the project engineer. Isaac Tire is growing and needs additional room, she said.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 21, 2006 02:29 PM
Posted to Environment