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Kansas City News Today Kansas City Front Page is a weekly news publication, with daily updates, spotlighting attractions, events, business and hospitality in Kansas City. |
KANSAS CITY NEWS TODAY - Monday, September 14, 2009  Scrap Tire Cleanup Rolls Tires Out of Illegal Dumps and into New Beneficial Uses KANSAS CITY, MO, (kansascityfrontpage.com), September 14, 2009 - The Missouri Department of Natural Resources and its partners have cleaned up more than 15,400,000 scrap tires in Missouri since the scrap tire cleanup efforts began in 1990. If laid side by side along Interstate 70 from St. Louis to Kansas City, the tires would stack almost 24 feet high. The state's Scrap Tire Fee, a 50-cent-per-tire fee charged on every new tire purchased in Missouri, enables the Department to fund the cleanups and provide grants and inspection and technical assistance efforts. The Department has spent more than $17 million on tire cleanups and grants since the fee was created in 1990. "Missouri's program is all about creating end markets for a material that would otherwise end up littering our landscape and contaminating our land and water," said Mark N. Templeton, Director of the Department of Natural Resources. "The scrap tire fund provides the Department with the financial ability to maintain oversight and clean up scrap tires that threaten Missouri's environment and may cause a public health concern." When recycled properly, scrap tires have other beneficial uses. They can be made into playground surfaces, running tracks and recycled rubber products. To help support those beneficial uses and end markets, the Department uses a portion of the scrap tire fee to provide Scrap Tire Playground Cover and Surfacing grants. Nonprofit organizations, including schools, day care centers, parks and others use the grants for playgrounds, running tracks, walking trails or other surfacing projects approved by the Department. The Department has awarded nearly 300 grants with more than $1.5 million paid to grantees and more than 9,900 tons of tire material used. To help increase the number of tires reported and cleaned up from smaller sites in Missouri, the Department created the Tire Dump Roundup Program in 2006. Through this program, property owners can apply to have scrap tires cleaned up from their property at no cost. To be eligible, sites must contain between an estimated 500 and 10,000 tires. Active businesses and prior program recipients are not eligible for this program. The Department partners with the Missouri Department of Corrections during these cleanups and converts the illegally dumped tires to tire derived fuel. Using tire derived fuel not only has an economic benefit, but also an environmental benefit, limiting the amount of coal used in these plants. The Department continues to work with Missouri's solid waste management districts, cities and counties coordinating tire roundups, and encourages and reimburses nonprofit groups in cleaning up dumpsites that contain fewer than 500 tires. The Department estimates there are a total of 613,000 tires remaining in illegal dumps around the state. Of this amount, more than 313,000 tires are in known dumpsites. The Department receives speculative reports of dumpsites that have totaled approximately 300,000 additional tires per year. For more information or to sign up for the Tire Dump Roundup Program, contact the Department's Scrap Tire Unit at 800-361-4827 or 573-526-3909 or visit the Web at www.dnr.mo.gov/env/swmp/tires/tirelist.htm. Missouri's Automotive Industry Is Poised for Growth KANSAS CITY, MO, (kansascityfrontpage.com), September 14, 2009 - The Missouri Automotive Jobs Task Force, representing automobile manufacturers, suppliers, economic development groups, automotive workers and major universities, concluded that although Missouri's automotive industry has faced stiff challenges in recent years, the industry is poised for future growth. The task force members noted that while employment in Missouri's automotive sector has declined by 35 percent since 2004, the state still maintains a skilled automotive workforce and houses major infrastructure and manufacturing assets that could benefit from future growth in the design and production of "green" or energy-efficient vehicles. "Missouri is home to the hardest-working, most productive automotive industry workers in the world, and our state houses state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities as well," Gov. Nixon said. "Although our automotive industry has faced tough challenges, I am confident that we will turn this economy around and maintain a strong automotive industry presence here in the Show-Me State, especially as production of next-generation vehicles ramps up. I thank the members of the Automotive Jobs Task Force for their thorough and thoughtful analysis, and I look forward to reviewing this report carefully in the days to come." According to the report, Missouri's highly trained automotive workforce and significant manufacturing facilities should position the state well in the competition for future automotive jobs. Specifically, task force members noted, the following characteristics position Missouri well for an automotive industry rebound: * More than 250 automotive manufacturing facilities, including the Ford Assembly Plant in Claycomo and a General Motors plant in Wentzville; * A productive, dedicated and skilled automotive workforce of 25,500 Missourians, making Missouri the eighth-largest state in terms of automotive employment; * A physical infrastructure of existing facilities, transportation, utilities and dealerships that strongly complements the production and distribution needs of the automotive industry; * A history of producing nationally acclaimed vehicles, including the Dodge Caravan minivan, the Ford F-150 pickup truck and the Ford Escape sport utility vehicle; * Institutions of higher education, including an expansive community college network, that graduates 2,475 engineering students annually; and * A business climate that boasts central proximity to the nation's markets, low energy costs, competitive tax rates and industrial diversity Based on these positive characteristics, the task force submitted the following five general recommendations to the Governor: * Create an environment - as experienced by businesses and consumers - that is supportive of new technological developments and encourages consumption of new automotive technologies, including "green" or environmentally friendly automobiles; * Enhance the resources dedicated to providing Missouri's auto-related workers - past, present and future - with the "hard" and "soft" skills required by the evolving global industry; * Provide access to resources that assist automotive companies statewide in growing or diversifying their sales, upgrading their technological capabilities, and increasing their long-term viability; * Evaluate and enhance the state's economic incentives toolbox to increase its competitiveness for new automotive investment; and * Coordinate and focus efforts on identifying reuse opportunities for vacant automotive and supplier facilities The 27-page report to the Governor outlined specific recommendations in each of these categories. "This report will be a valuable tool as we intensify our efforts to revitalize and transform Missouri's automotive industry," Gov. Nixon said. "I am especially pleased that the task force placed a strong emphasis on workforce training and development, as I am committed to continuing our work with our two- and four-year colleges and universities to prepare Missouri workers for the automotive jobs of tomorrow."   The Kansas City Front Page is owned and maintained by the Moore Design Group for the sole purpose of disseminating news and information about the Metropolitan Kansas City area. Text or graphics may not be copied, rewritten or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission. For more information, contact editor@slfp.com All rights reserved world wide © 2007 - 2009 Moore Design Group. |
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