Man faces $100k fine for 16,000 tires in backyard
DAVENPORT, Iowa (WISH) — City officials in Davenport, Iowa, are saying enough is enough after the discovery of 16,000 tires in the backyard of one man’s home.
William Peters lives in the home and owns a tire removal company. He’s the middle man between a tire store and a tire recycler, but the tires he’s collecting aren’t making it to that destination.
It’s illegal for Davenport residents to collect solid waste, like used tires, in large amount. The city got involved after multiple complaints from residents. They issued the homeowners, Peters’ cousins and owners of 3 Way Farms, Inc., a citation in Jan. 2019. After more neighbor complaints the city filed a court order in October saying the owners and Peters, a co-defendant, had to get rid of the piles by February. They failed to meet that deadline.
Since Wednesday, they’ve loaded 300 tires in 16 truckloads every day to an area landfill.
“They need to go but they didn’t need to do it,” says Peters. “Yes, we got caught in a mess here. Some of it’s my fault, some of it’s not.”
The city says the defendants will have to pay a disposal fee close to $100,000.
City officials hope to have everything cleaned up by Monday.