Mahoning County property ordered to clean up tires

Citing a danger to public health and the environment, Ohio EPA has instructed two Youngstown property owners to remove approximately 13,000 scrap tires from three parcels of land located at 1144 Poland Avenue.

Margaret Davis O’Sullivan of Austin, Texas, and Michael Davis of Abilene, Texas, have until the end of April to arrange for removal and proper disposal of the tires. Until the illegal dump is cleaned up, O’Sullivan and Davis need to ensure health and safety concerns are minimized by reducing the size of tire storage piles, establishing fire lanes and spraying for mosquitoes.

O’Sullivan and Davis are the children and heirs of Max Davis, the owner of the property and tire dump until his death in 2002.

Ohio EPA first documented the scrap tire dump in 2004 and issued two notices of violation to Max Davis, believing he was still the property’s owner. In 2008, a fire at the site burned thousands of tires. In 2009, Ohio EPA returned to the property and found burned residuals as well as thousands more tires unaffected by the fire. O’Sullivan and Davis were made aware of the Agency’s concerns at that time.

If O’Sullivan and Davis are unable to remove and dispose of all the scrap tires, Ohio EPA will arrange for a thorough clean up and will pursue reimbursement.