Thousands of tires lined up along East Memphis street part of cleanup effort

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - A thousand tires lined the side of North Highland Street as the road crossed the Wolf River over the weekend. At first glance, it appears to be a massive instance of illegal dumping that would have taken several semi-trucks to pull off.

In reality, though, the stacks of tires are a sign of progress in a massive cleanup effort.

There are a few signs the tires weren’t just dumped there. The tires are neatly stacked. They are also covered in mud and full of water because volunteers pulled them out of the Wolf River floodplain on the side of the road.

“This dumping area has been on our radar for probably five or six years,” Ryan Hall, of the nonprofit Wolf River Conservancy, said.

Hall said North Highland has become a prime spot for illegal dumping thanks to its broken streetlight and the fact that there are no nearby houses or businesses that witnesses might spot the crime from.

“I’m pretty sure this is a lot of mom-and-pop tire stores that maybe pay the tire recycling fee, but then don’t do the right thing,” he said.

Hall believes part of the problem is that tires can be pricey and difficult to dispose of legally, often costing $200 per ton to recycle.

“There needs to be an easier way for individuals and maybe companies as well to properly dispose of tires,” he said.

Hall said as the tires sit and rot, they release chemicals that could contaminate the Wolf River and in turn the aquifer the city gets its drinking water from.

The conservancy partnered with volunteers from FedEx for one of the company’s 50th anniversary service projects and pulled the tires out of the floodplain, then neatly stacked them so city crews could more easily collect and dispose of them.

“We had 80 people out here, both right here and on our property up on James Road, doing restoration work,” Hall said. “We got 1,000 tires in one hour.”

There are still plenty of tires off the side of the road, though. Hall hopes to tackle those at future volunteer events.

He said he was glad to see FedEx get involved and believes it is up to individuals and local companies to protect natural resources like the Wolf River and aquifer, especially since he’s watched illegal dumping get more common over the last decade.

“It’s extremely frustrating. The answer to solve it is very complicated, but we need all our partners to come in,” Hall said. “To make sure that the water we drink is clean, the places where we hike, walk and paddle are also clean and make sure that we have solid places to get away from our daily lives.”

A city spokesperson praised the volunteers for their effort and said the stacks of tires will be removed by the end of the week.

The Wolf River Conservancy’s next cleanup event is set for Saturday.

For more information, visit the nonprofit's website here.