MD goes to court to clean up Anne Arundel tire dump site

CROWNSVILLE, Md - In a complaint filed in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court the tires are scattered across several ravines on 19 acres of the old Joy-Boehm Landfill on Saint Stephens Church Road in Crownsville.

The state says it first came across the tires during an inspection in 1999 and started efforts to get the property owners to remove the tires.

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The process has been stalled for 13 years as a series of events including the death of the property's original owners in 2006 held things up.

The state says the tires have to go because they not only endanger the environment but people who live in the areas surrounding the dump.

"Tires pose a significant risk to public health and environment tires can hold water and provide a breeding ground for mosquitos they can spread disease homes for rats and snakes so you have the public health aspect and also if they would catch fire it could create dangerous levels of oil and soot in the air and water."  Department of Environment Spokesman Jay Apperson says.

If the court grants the states wish the property owners would be required to submit a plan to clean up the site and reimburse the state the cost of overseeing that clean up.

The property's owners weren't available for comment.