Tires fill ravine, block culvert
GATEWAY — Thousands of tires, some still on wheels, overflow a ravine between U.S. Arkansas Highway 62 and the railroad tracks in Gateway.
Mayor Frank Hackler, who said he “inherited” the problem, called a meeting with state, city and county officials to consider how to address the problem which is too costly for the city to clean up.
Joining Hackler were Gateway street superintendent James Appleton, Benton County Judge Bob Clinard, Garfield Mayor Gary Blackburn, and Teresa Sidwell and Joyce Higgins from Benton County Environmental Division, John Sudduth, administrator of general services for Benton County, and Justin Sparrow, solid waste inspector for the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality.
The property, owned by Mary Tucker of Seligman, Mo., was the subject of a lawsuit when George Williams bought the land, made a down payment and then discov- ered the tires causing him to file suit against Ms. Tucker. A judgement was entered on Feb. 4, 2014, in Judge John Scott’s court ordering Tucker to repay Williams. Tucker still holds the deed to the land, according to records.
Hacker and Appleton said they have not received responses from Tucker when they’ve attempted to contact her to clean up the land.
Adjacent property owner Harold Hurd said the condition of the property, which previously housed an auto salvage yard, has caused a decrease in the value of his property. He said runoff from the Tucker property runs into a pond on his property and on into Beaver Lake.
“It’s a case of the almighty dollar. Steel prices went up, so they got rid of the salvage cars. But, they don’t want to pay to remove the tires,” Hurd said. Higgins, who said she had been at the site before, said she can not work inside the city limits
because she works for the county.
On June 25, 2012, Christopher Ryan, then director of the Benton County Planning and Environmental Department, said the case was closed because the “property has remediated their prior identified violations….”
“I didn’t realize the magnititude of it until I walked out there,” Hackler said. “We’ve done all we can do in asking for help.”
Sparrow said it is a clear violation of the solid waste management law and he would notify the landowner to clean it up or face fines.