RE: OPPOSITION TO THE PERMITTING (# UNKNOWN) OF NEW B&B TIRE LANDFILL IN CLEVELAND, ALABAMA

• B&B Hayden Tire Landfill. B&B purchased the 89 acres that are adjacent to their existing tire landfill in 2025. This was intended to allow B&B to expand their operations in Hayden instead of opening a new landfill on Hazelrig Road, which would be the worst geological and hydrogeological location for a new scrap tire landfill.

• Public Safety/Cleveland Municipal Drinking Water Well. The Cleveland Municipal Drinking Water Well is located roughly 3,100 ft. from the proposed scrap tire landfill site. The Pottsville Aquifer traverses beneath the proposed landfill site and the Cleveland Drinking Water Well. ADEM was involved in funding and siting this Drinking Water Well. How could ADEM fund/site a drinking water well and then approve a scrap tire landfill practically on top of the well?

• Chemical Pollution. Tire rubber contains more than 400 chemicals and compounds and heavy metals, many of them carcinogenic. The chemical 6PPD-quinone in tires has been proven to be very toxic. The pesticide Malathion is planned to be sprayed every seven days using the “drift method”. This airborne movement can cause chemicals to settle on non-target areas, such as surrounding vegetation, property, or water sources. Malathion is toxic to beneficial insects (pollinators), birds, and aquatic species.

• Former Coal Mine. At least part of the planned landfill is occupied by a former coal mine with a highwall approximately 100 feet high and standing water continuously present in the excavation cut pit. Abandoned coal mines in Alabama often produce acidic drainage/groundwater. Combining potentially acidic water with the scrap tires is a recipe for disaster that can release the toxic chemicals in the rubber and dissolve the metals in tires, making these toxics available and transportable in groundwater.

• Lessons From the Past. Blount County has prior experience with placing a tire landfill in a former coal mine. The Metro Tire Landfill, near Locust Fork, was also built on a former coal mine. That site spawned litigation near the end of its useful life because leachate carrying carcinogenic compounds and metals was running out of the bottom of the landfill onto an adjacent property and then to a tributary of the Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River.

• Public Safety/Traffic. B&B Tire Landfill stated that 60 (sixty) trucks per day will visit the site. Sixty trucks in and sixty trucks out. Tractor trailer trucks (18-wheelers) cannot turn without entering the oncoming traffic lane at the four-way stop at Hwy. 160/231. School traffic is a top concern. Cleveland schools and sports fields are 1.50 miles from the site.

• Parks/Outdoor Recreation. Cleveland Town Park and Baseball fields are 1.73 miles from the site. The Cleveland soccer field and fishing park are 1.45 miles from the site. The Blount County Multi-Purpose Center and Agri-Business Facility, which conduct the spring/fall fair, rodeos, and other events year-round, are 1.28 miles from the site. Calvert Prong/Little Warrior River is only 2,594 feet from the site. Andy Branch is only 2,301 feet from the site. Dry Creek is 1.03 miles from the site. The proposed new RV Park is 1.12 miles from the site.

• Solid Waste Board. The Solid Waste Board voted to deny the B&B Tire Landfill (B&B) application July 29, 2025 because it was not consistent with the SWBP’s ten-year plan.

• Permit Denial Request. There is no reasonable justification for ADEM to risk the contamination of drinking water or public health and safety in the Town of Cleveland in order to allow the proposed scrap tire landfill permit.