Attorney General's News Release

September 15, 2005

Attorney General Jay Nixon files lawsuit against Callaway County residents to clean up waste tire dump

The Attorney General is suing to clean up this Callaway County tire dump. Cars and drums with unknown substances also litter the site.

Fulton, Mo. — Attorney General Jay Nixon has filed a lawsuit against a Callaway County man and his stepdaughter to clean up an illegal dump site near Auxvasse that contains an estimated 10,000 old tires and other unidentified waste.

The lawsuit, filed in Callaway County Circuit Court, names Richard Schneider, who lists addresses in Auxvasse and O'Fallon, and his stepdaughter, Sabrina Llamas-Soto, who lists addresses in Wentzville and O'Fallon. Schneider originally owned the property, dumped the tires and other wastes, and then recently transferred the property to his stepdaughter. The dump site is located at 2490 County Road 157, north of Interstate 70 and east of Kingdom City on Highway A, just south of Bachelor.

The lawsuit alleges that there are approximately 10,000 tires on the property, as well as several plastic drums and compressed gas containers containing unknown substances. According to Nixon, no pest controls are in place at the dump site — creating a breeding ground for mosquitos and other vermin — nor are there any fire controls, which potentially could imperil the entire community.

"We have already seen two massive tire dump fires in the state of Missouri this year, and we already know how they can stretch the resources of emergency responders and pose a significant threat to the air and water supply," Nixon said.

Nixon is asking the court to order Schneider and Llamas-Soto to immediately stop dumping on the site, to properly dispose of all scrap tires, and to allow the Missouri Department of Natural Resources access to the dump location to ensure compliance with the court order. He is also asking for civil penalties plus the cost of investigation and prosecution.

A March tire dump fire in Polk County required the efforts of firefighters from 19 area fire departments several days to control the blaze; a second dump fire just days later in Ray County smoldered for more than a week.

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