Attorney General's News Release

January 9, 1995

Nixon sues to recover cleanup costs at St. Francois County tire site

Jefferson City, Mo. — Attorney General Jay Nixon has asked for a court order to force the owner of a tire dump in St. Francois County to pay for the cost of removing almost 6,000 tons of waste tires from the property. The dump, estimated to contain 500,000 to one million tires, is north of Bonne Terre off U.S. Highway 67 and was the site of a tire fire in October 1992.

In a petition filed with the St. Francois County Circuit Court Jan. 6, Nixon asked that Marty Nickelson of Pevely be ordered to reimburse the state for grants issued by the Department of Natural Resources to third parties to remove the tires.

“This tire dump has been a public nuisance and fire hazard for far too long,” Nixon said. “Mr. Nickelson has not taken the steps necessary to comply with the law and has, in fact, spent time in jail for being in contempt of previous court orders to clean up this site. He should bear full financial responsibility for removing these tires.”

The DNR issued a $60,000 grant to IPC Technology to remove 800 tons of waste tires from the Nickelson site, which was completed by October 1994. Two more grants to remove an additional 5,000 tons of waste tires are being negotiated. The grants come from the Solid Waste Management Fund, which is funded in part by a 50-cent surcharge on each tire sold in Missouri.

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818