Maclean's, Feb 26, 1990 v103 n9 p47(1) 
                Toxic flames. (Tyre King Tyre Recycling Ltd. fire, near 
                Hagersville, Ontario) Tim Powis. 
            Full Text: COPYRIGHT Maclean Hunter Ltd. (Canada) 1990 
            Toxic flames 
            Burning tires spew poisons into the air 
            Driving near his farm 100 km southwest of Toronto, Ontario Treasurer 
            Robert Nixon said he worried about the danger of fire when he passed 
            the 15 million used tires in a single, city-block-sized heap at the 
            Tyre King Tyre Recycling Ltd. dump near Hagersville. Despite the 
            company's name, owner Edward Straza did not recycle tires but 
            charged people to dump them on his lot until he could find a 
            facility to dispose of them. Last year, when Nixon imposed a $5 tax 
            on the sale of each new tire in order to raise funds for recycling 
            facilities, he singled out Tyre King as "an environmental menace." 
            That forecast became reality in the early morning of Feb. 12, when 
            the tires caught fire, sending clouds of thick, black, toxic smoke 
            into the air. The blaze, which officials said was deliberately set, 
            resisted about 180 firefighters' efforts all week and forced 
            hundreds of area residents from their homes. Experts declared the 
            fire a major environmental disaster and said that it could continue 
            to burn slowly for months. 
            That is because the tires' major component is a petroleum-based 
            substance that, once alight, is almost impossible to extinguish. 
            Fumes that its flames emit contain such chemicals as benzene, known 
            to cause leukemia in tested animals, and toluene, which can damage 
            the kidneys and liver. In addition, as the tires melt, they release 
            an oily liquid that could seep into soil and contaminate 
            groundwater. Said Gerard Coffey of the Toronto environmental group 
            Pollution Probe: "It's going to get into water and under 
            pastureland." The dump, Coffey added, "was not meant to hold toxic 
            waste. But that's what it's turned into." 
            One likely effect of the fire will be to force officials to confront 
            with greater urgency the issue of tire recycling. Said Ontario 
            environment ministry spokesman John Steele: "If anything good can be 
            said about the fire, it's that there will probably be more said 
            about recycling in the future." Experts say that Ontario's rate of 
            tire disposal, at about 11 million a year, far outstrips the 
            province's recycling capacity. Nixon said that his government 
            expects to raise about $40 million a year from the tire tax, but so 
            far the province's four recycling firms, which break tires down for 
            use in such products as road surfaces, have received only $1.1 
            million. Said Coffey: "The way recycling is structured now, we need 
            storage facilities for stuff like tires that can't be recycled 
            immediately." In light of last week's events at Hagersville, such 
            storage sites will clearly have to be less vulnerable than the Tyre 
            King dump. 
            PHOTO : Tyre King dump: a major environmental disaster that could 
            burn for months 
             
             Article A8277894