SC man arrested after dumping thousands of old tires in wooded areas, officers say
A Greenville County trash hauler has been arrested after more than 1,500 worn-out tires were found dumped in various parts of Spartanburg County.
The Spartanburg County Environmental Enforcement Department officers found five sites where almost 18 tons of tires have been found. They suspect there are twice that many in the remote parts of Duncan, Lyman and Wellford, east of downtown Spartanburg.
The illegal dumping has been going on for 10 months, Environmental Enforcement Department officers said.
Terry Scott Owens, Jr., 49, of Travelers Rest, was arrested and charged with five counts of littering more than 500 pounds of material, one count for each of the five dumping sites.
One of the warrants also accuses Owens of dumping 700 tires in Greer.
Owens was arrested early Saturday morning and released later that afternoon on a $250 surety bond, court records show.
Jamie Nelson, the director of the Environmental Enforcement Department, said Owens is accused of visiting various tire businesses and offering to remove their waste tires.
“We confirmed one location was paying him $1.50 per tire,” Nelson said. “In our state, the South Carolina Solid Waste Policy and Management Act speaks and defines waste tires, but this really isn’t any assistance to departments like mine.”
His agency used a grant from PalmettoPride, a litter fighting nonprofit based in Columbia, to buy the camera that showed the illegal dumping.
South Carolina law calls for fines between $500 and $1,000 and up to a year in jail, if convicted. The law also states that anyone found guilty may be ordered to clean up the illegal dump site and perform community service.
Nelson said every year a legislator proposes increasing fines, but he thinks that’s the wrong approach.
“What someone needs to look at doing on the state level is determining a way to provide funding for counties with agencies like ours in Spartanburg County to battle illegal dumping,” he said. “Another suggestion would be to address specific items such as tires with a stiffer penalty or mandatory incarceration time.”
He encourages people to get on board with his agency’s motto — light up a litterbug.
“Tossing trash out of your vehicle window, transporting litter and other items in an unsecured manner, and illegal dumping will not be tolerated in Spartanburg County,” a news release issued by the office Monday said.
April is Zero Tolerance for Litter Month in South Carolina, the department said.
