Attorney General's News Release

October 31, 1994

Polk County judge finds waste tire site owner in contempt, orders fine of $1,000 per day

Jefferson City, Mo. — Polk County Circuit Judge Theodore B. Scott has ordered the owner of a waste tire site near Bolivar to pay a fine of $1,000 per day for each day he fails to comply with a court order to clean up the property. Judge Scott’s contempt order also states that Rudy Trevino, trustee for the dissolved corporation DWM of Mid-America, will be fined $760,000 if he does not purge the contempt order by taking corrective action by specific deadlines.

Attorney General Jay Nixon had obtained the court order against DWM in January in an effort to clean up the site, which contains an estimated 500,000 to 2 million tires in an old quarry area.

“Missouri has a serious problem with illegal tire dumps, and we are just as serious in taking aggressive action to put an end to these potentially dangerous sites,” Nixon said. “Mr. Trevino has shown complete contempt of the law in disregarding the court order to clean up his illegal tire dump. If a court order hasn’t gotten his attention, perhaps a three-quarters of million dollar fine will.”

Nixon said the violations at the DWM site included storing tires without a permit and failing to provide adequate fire breaks and water runoff protection. Some of the tires were disposed of in standing water.

The court order in January required Trevino to apply for the appropriate storage permits and begin cutting and baling the waste tires to provide fire breaks and remove tires from the standing water. Nixon said these actions had not been taken by early October.

Judge Scott’s contempt order directed Trevino to have suitable cutting and baling machinery on the site by Oct. 27 and to meet the other terms and provisions of the January consent order. A Jan. 3 hearing is scheduled at the Polk County Courthouse to determine Trevino’s compliance with this latest order.

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818