ALBANY - In fall 2004, New York was awash in waste tires, with scores of tire dumps spread across the state harboring an estimated 34 million used tires. Built up over many decades, these dump sites threatened the environment and public health and safety.

Now, five years later, a plan to aggressively clean up tire dumps has resulted in significant progress: more than 26.5 million tires removed and 102 sites completely addressed, including 12 of the state's largest tire dumps, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis announced today. Many of the remaining sites, though not completely cleaned up, have seen significant progress.

On the anniversary of the launch of the state's Waste Tire Stockpile Abatement Plan (2004), Commissioner Grannis noted the advancements made in attacking one of the state's long-running environmental problems:

• Of the 17 largest dumps identified when the program began, 12 have been completely cleared of tires.
• The largest tire dump in New York is now cleared of tires. At the massive Fortino site in Oswego County, all of the estimated 11.4 million waste tires have been removed.
• The last of the 5 million tires at the state's second largest tire dump, Mohawk Tire in Waterford, Saratoga County, have been removed.
• At the launch of the program, some 95 tire dumps were documented around the state. But DEC uncovered another 51 previously unreported tire stockpiles and added them to the program.
• Nearly all the waste tires removed under the cleanup program have been recycled for other uses such as landfill liners and road construction materials.

"It took decades to fill these dumps in communities in all corners of the state," Commissioner Grannis said. "But we have achieved a remarkable cleanup in a relatively short time. New York has aggressively attacked this issue, steadily removing environmental, health and fire threats. Dump sites have been systematically cleared of tires and materials recycled."

Besides being an eyesore, tire piles are a major fire risk.