Twin Falls company working with Bonneville County to clean up decades-old tire pile

IDAHO FALLS — A private company has a contract with Bonneville County to grind up a pile of tires off Iona Road.

The tires, which sit on a 2-acre parcel near the rail line across from Idaho Falls Power’s new Peaking Plant, have occupied the space for decades. Bonneville County Commissioner Karl Casperson estimates the pile has been accumulating since the 1970s.

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Casperson says Tire Reclaim, a company based in Twin Falls, is doing the grinding, which began on Monday. It’s not clear how long it will take, but the goal is to grind the entire pile until it’s gone. The city will haul the crumb rubber to the Bonneville County Transfer Station.

Once it’s complete, the county will take ownership of the property.

“The owner of the land is gifting that to Bonneville County,” Casperson said.

There are no specific plans for the property yet.

Removing the tires has been a work in progress for many years. Casperson says the original land owner had a business at that location set up to do it, but it became too expensive.

His son later inherited the property and reached out to the city for help.

“He was like, ‘I can’t do anything with this,’” Casperson said.

Bonneville County Chief Operating Officer Austin Black began searching for an affordable company to do the grinding, and that led him to Tire Reclaim.

“We have been looking for something like this for a long time,” Casperson said. “Austin finally found this guy late last fall and entered into an agreement with him. It’s a pretty inexpensive cleanup.”

Casperson said he is grateful to Tire Reclaim for its efforts. He’s excited to see that property serve a useful purpose in the future.

“It has possibilities, with that rail line going through it,” Casperson said. “It’s still too new to us to figure out what we’re going to do with it.”

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