Somerset Township given $250,000 for tire cleanup

9/22/2003

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality recently awarded $250,000 to Somerset Township to help clean up a tire dump. The grant is part of a recent $2.5 million disbursement to clean up more than two million scrap tires from sites across the state.

The property, owned by Earl LaRue, became a tire drop-off in 1960. In 1992, at the township's request, the Hillsdale County Circuit Court ordered the dump to stop accepting tires. The township assumed the financial burden of cleaning it up in 1999.

The township has received close to $500,000 in state assistance over the years to remove tires from the site. It costs about $1.20 to haul away a single tire and dispose of it properly.