Province to clean up Assiniboia’s scrap tires
Recycling plant that closed down in 2014 left behind 6,678 tonnes of scrap material
REGINA The town of Assiniboia is celebrating after the provincial government announced a plan to address the long-standing issue of abandoned scrap tires.
The announcement comes after a request for proposals was issued by the Tire Stewardship of Saskatchewan (TSS), the province’s scrap tire recycling program operator, looking for ways to dispose of scrap tires at the Assiniboia Rubber Recycling plant and determine cleanup costs.
“(The plant) closed in 2014 and left a real mess, an eyesore, and certainly a degree of safety issues,” said Assiniboia Mayor Bob Himbeault. “We’ve been working a long time trying to resolve it.”
The plant left behind 6,678 tonnes (14.724 million pounds) of scrap tires and processed materials. The facility went into receivership in July 2014.
The potential for a fire has been the town’s main concern since the plant shut down, but Himbeault said they’ve been provided with extra foam, hoses and pumps so they are well equipped in case the situation should arise.
Animal protection has been monitoring the site to ensure it doesn’t become a haven for homeless rats and about a year ago, the town took steps to secure the building so people couldn’t come and go through broken doors.
Involved throughout the request for proposals process, Himbeault is “very happy” with the chosen plan, which he says will hopefully be finalized in the new year.
To ensure public safety, the Ministry of Environment says it is taking steps through The Environmental Management and Protection Act, 2010 to move forward with the cleanup.
“We have provided a grant of up to $3.3 million that will be provided to TSS,” said Environment Minister Dustin Duncan. “We felt that because of the risk that these tires pose for this community and that there is no company essentially in place to carry forward with that, we needed to carry forward with the removal and the remediation.”
The project will be funded by the Government of Saskatchewan and overseen by TSS. The successful proposal will be announced at a later date, said the news release.
“The dollars that the government has allotted to this now will get the ball rolling,” said Himbeault. “That was the only way this was going to get cleaned up, was if they were involved.”
Cleanup of the site is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.