Lafayette Consolidated Government is reminding parish residents not to dump tires, as doing so is illegal, bad for the environment, and prevents crews from doing other work around the parish.
LCG Environmental Quality Manager Bess Foret said criminal charges can be applied to anyone caught dumping tires, including jail time and fines.
Dumped tires can leach chemicals and heavy metals into the soil, surface water, and ground water. Tires left out can also be a mosquito breeding ground and can cause drainage issues if dumped in a channel.
Street and Drainage crews send staff away from needed projects to clean up dumped tires, putting a strain on resources, Foret said.
In Louisiana, whole tires cannot go into landfills due to the "void" space they take up, which Foret explained traps methane and leads the tires to bubble to the surface. Instead, tires must be processed at a licensed facility.
Lafayette Parish residents can bring up to five tires a day free of charge to LCG operations yard at 1017 Fortune Road in Youngsville and to Colt Inc. at 1223 Delhomme Ave. in Scott.
If you see an area in Lafayette where tires have been dumped, call 311 to report.
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