Bernalillo County gets $100,000 state grant to fight tire dumping
Bernalillo County has received a $100,000 grant from the New Mexico Environment Department to fight illegal tire dumping, with the money earmarked for community outreach and public information campaigns. The funding follows a separate grant the county used over the summer to buy a tire cutter as thousands of tires were dumped illegally at two sites on Albuquerque’s West Mesa over the past year.
The new money comes from the Recycling and Illegal Dumping Grant, also known as RAID, administered by the Environment Department’s Resource Recovery Bureau. It will pay for campaigns aimed at helping residents understand safe disposal methods, the environmental impacts of improperly discarded tires, and existing programs including tire amnesty events.
“Make sure that people are leaving their tires at the right facility or making sure it’s getting to the right place or understanding that there are regulations when it comes to managing tires, transporting tires, or disposing of tires,” Resource Recovery Bureau Outreach Section Manager Levi Lementino said.
Bernalillo County Planning and Development Program Coordinator Estevan Barela said the grant will allow the county to continue holding tire amnesty events. “To continue to provide this robust tire amnesty event that we’ve been doing by allowing and securing more funds for future events,” Barela said.
According to the county, 123 tons of illegally dumped tires had accumulated at the two West Mesa sites as of March. Most of the tires came from semi trucks and cannot be easily moved or cut because they contain metal.
Lementino pointed to other concerns. “With the new knowledge that there are PFAs in tires,” he said. “So not only are there chemical components within tires that are not great for the environment, it’s also a harborage ground for mosquitoes and other pests. There’s no places in New Mexico that will process, shred the, and use them for raw material. That has to be sent to either Texas City in Texas or Phoenix, Arizona.”
The grant will also fund public education about single-use plastic bags and containers at retailers, encouraging businesses to offer reusable bags, recyclable containers, and cardboard options.
Bernalillo County holds tire amnesty events throughout the year at various locations every other weekend, allowing residents to drop off up to nine tires per vehicle for free.
