Our Terms & Conditions | Our Privacy Policy
This is where the rubber meets the river.
Here, along a tiny island off Cocoa Beach, a half century ago some well-meaning folks lined the banks with spent tires to keep their beloved islet from oozing into the Indian River Lagoon.
Whether or not tires saved the island — some doubt it — today’s lagoon advocates no longer are willing to live with the potentially lethal legacy of all the countless waste tires dumped in the lagoon, at the expense of marine life. These advocates basically have declared: ‘Don’t tread on (or in) our lagoon.’ On April 12, volunteers with the nonprofit Waterway Warriors pulled more than 300 tires surrounding what’s colloquially known as “Tire Island.”
There are countless other tires out there. And particles from all those waste tires may be laying waste to tiny lagoon fish and other vulnerable marine life.
“During the course of this work, we uncovered a local lore dating back to the 1970s, when tires were placed along the shoreline as an erosion control measure,” Sandra Leone, cofounder of Waterway Warriors, said via email. “While the approach was well-intentioned at the time, we now know the environmental risks it poses.”
Why so many tires in the lagoon?
The tires date back to the time when residents would toss concrete slabs and other construction leftovers into the lagoon to keep storm waters from lapping up on land they wanted to protect.
Using tire for erosion control was happening everywhere in Florida. They were also used to create fake fish reefs, too.
In the 1970s, between 1 million and 2 million tires were put in the ocean off Broward County to create an artificial reef to lure more fish. But hurricanes and other storms kept washing those tires onto prime tourist beaches and into nearby natural coral reefs, damaging them. It was the law of unintended consequences. So the government launched a program to remove those tires, called the Osborne Reef Tire Removal Project.
Now, modern science is proving that “softer,” more natural ways are more effective ways to guard the lagoon’s banks.
Why are tires harmful to the lagoon?
The fragments and small particles from tires are mostly natural and synthetic rubbers that contain thousands of chemicals. But they also include microplastics and high concentrations of metals harmful to ecosystems.
Recent studies point to a litany of human and ecological health risks from the particles that shed off tires.
Compounds used to make tires last longer can be harmful to fish and other lagoon life. They can cause genetic mutations, endocrine disruption and immune suppression, among other ill effects.
A recent study by researchers at San Diego State University and Michigan State University found that freshwater zebrafish embryos exposed to compounds from tires for only days after fertilization were less likely to survive. “These secondary microplastics are considered one of the most commonly found aquatic pollutants, with the U.S. emitting an average of 1.5 million tonnes/year of tire tread and tear and an estimated 6 million tons total among Europe, Japan, China, Australia, Brazil, India, and the U.S,” the study’s authors noted.
How many tires are we talking about?
Nobody knows how many tires might be in the lagoon. But in America, 3.3 trillion vehicle miles were logged in 2019, the SDSU paper notes, and the Federal Highway Administration projects a 22% increase over the next 30 years, based on 2022 Federal Highway Administration data. So the pollution burden from tire particles is likely to increase.
How did they get rid of all those island tires?
Gator Dredging, which has been dredging the Grand Canal for Brevard County, was one of the key sponsors of the event. They provided the boat to transport tires from the island. Tires were transferred to Brevard County Mosquito Control trucks for storage and recycling via Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s “tire amnesty” program.
DEP’s program isn’t specifically for the lagoon but reimburses up to $25,000 for tire disposal and transport fees during tire amnesty events.
Old tires come to a crumby end
Once recycled waste tires typically wind up under artificial turf fields and blanketing playgrounds, tracks and even flower gardens as fake mulch.
First the tires go through a process to remove hazardous components. But the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency continues to study whether the recycled tire crumb can continue to pose risks.
Brevard County Mosquito Control usually picks up and disposes of about 60 tons of illegally dumped waste tires per year, county officials said. Mosquito Control has four designated tire transport trucks which are registered for tire collection, but the county absorbs the disposal costs, because tires are illegally dumped and the sources are usually unknown.
Why is mosquito control involved?
On land, water can accumulate in waste tires, where mosquitoes lay eggs and develop, increasing risk of mosquito-borne illnesses such as West Nile, dengue and Zika viruses, as well as heartworm in pets.
Collaborators that helped with the recent tire removal included Xplore the IRL, Brevard County’s Save Our Indian River Lagoon program, Cocoa Beach Public Works.
Waterway Warriors estimates another 200 to 300 tires remain around the same island in Cocoa Beach. So they plan to remove those soon.
“We’re proud to be part of a community that is proactively addressing these legacy issues and restoring the natural integrity of our shoreline,” Leone said.
Waymer covers environment. Reach him at (321) 261-5903 or jwayer@floridatoday.com. Follow him on X at @JWayEnviro.
Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.
Aggregated From –
Comments are closed.