US-Mexico Border Tyre Removal Agreement Signed

On August 15 environmental officials from ten states along both sides of the border between the USA and Mexico signed the Tire Initiative Letter of Understanding, a document committing the states to combat the issue of scrap tyres in the interest of public health. The agreement, signed during the annual Border Governors Conference in Los Angeles, is a joint partnership between the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Mexican Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger applauded the agreement as “a substantial step toward decreasing the hazardous tyre piles along the border region.” The Tire Initiative outlines guidelines for the safe removal of existing tyre piles, the prevention of future tyre piles and the creation of a market for waste tyres, while involving stakeholders and communities in clean-up efforts.

To date, four million scrap tyres have been removed from the border, says the EPA, removing a risk of fires and disease to border residents. Disease carrying pests such as rodents are common residents in these tyre piles, and after rainfall mosquitoes are known to breed in the stagnant water collected inside tyres and carry deadly diseases, including encephalitis, West Nile virus, dengue fever and malaria.