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Thousands of tires illegally dumped into Schuylkill River endangers dredging project

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Published  October 11, 2023 5:42pm EDT
Philadelphia
FOX 29 Philadelphia

Thousands of tires illegally dumped impedes Schuylkill River dredging

A multi-million-dollar project to dredge the Schuylkill River may be put on hold after thousands of tires were illegally dumped in the river.

FAIRMOUNT - A multi-million-dollar project to dredge the Schuylkill River may be put on hold after thousands of tires were illegally dumped in the river.

An Army Corps of Engineers subcontractor working on dredging operations on the Schuylkill River has found over 3,000 tires north and south of the Strawberry Mansion Bridge and they are still counting.

Officials say all of the extra time and labor associated with removing the tires impact their ability to dredge the fall regatta racecourse as originally planned.

"There’s lots of stuff being dumped in there. That’s just one category," stated Beth Hagenmeyer.

She is on a dragon boat paddling team and says she frequents the river regularly. She was shocked to see the number of tires being pulled out of the water.

"We’ve been watching all of the dredging that’s been going on and what I think is great about the river is you’re in the city, you can be amongst nature, you see the turtles and the ducks and fish swimming around," Hagenmeyer explained. "Hopefully, something can be changed so that people aren’t dumping like that."

FOX 29 reached out to the dredging project manager. He replied saying the process of removing thousands of tires makes for slow work, adding they have to use a machine with a clip to dip deep down and retrieve the tires, adding all kinds of tires are being pulled, indicating a problem that has built over time.

On-lookers say there has to be a better way to dispose of their tires. One such on-looker, Lisa Callahan, showed off her personal wallet, an upcycled wallet, made from tires. "There’s got to be a solution to people dumping their garbage into the river. You have to believe if there was an alternative, people would take it, because that’s quite a job, bringing your stuff in and get it in there."

Selim Yahiaoui added, "It’s affecting the fish, the environment, the people trying to make it nicer and convenient for people in the city to have green places around to keep protecting it."