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Tire fire removal must be assured

In the aftermath of last summer's Kirby Tire fire, it has become obvious that neither federal or state agencies have funds at hand to do what should be done.

What is needed is a timely cleanup, both of the residue from the fire and of the remaining millions of tires that did not burn.

Estimates of how long it might take to get rid of the tires stored at the Kirby site, based on projections with expected funds available, range between 10 and 15 years.

That allows 10-15 years for another tire fire. There is a real threat to our air, soil and water, not matter how much of an increase in security there is at the site.

It is time for people in this area &emdash; as well as our legislators &emdash; to acknowledge that neither the Ohio nor federal EPA is going to provide the resources needed to expeditiously get rid of the tire threat.

We need to call upon State Sen. Larry Mumper, State Reps. Rex Damschroder and Robert Gooding at the state level, and U.S. Reps. Michael Oxley and Paul Gillmor and U.S. Senators George Voinovich and Mike DeWine at the federal level to take action.

The way for the tires to be removed in a timely fashion is for money to be appropriated specifically for that task.

We see reports of such legislation for other areas of the state and nation all the time. Now is the time for it to happen here.

The millions and millions of tires at Kirby were ignored for a long time, even though the potential for an environmental disaster was known.

We've seen the disaster. We don't even known the extent of the long-term damage.

Millions of tire remain.

It will be our fault if we allow our government officials to let slide by the opportunity to remove the threat before another fire.