Bill would plug empty mines with tires

Jerry Tyra points to ATV and motorcycle tire tracks, bullet shells and garbage. People frequent this patch of desert near Peoria.

Then he points to two deep holes — abandoned mine shafts with no fences and no warning signs, just a few miles north of this fast-growing Phoenix suburb.

“This is one of the more dangerous mines that I have come across,” said Tyra, an abandoned mine specialist for the state.

Tyra plants metal fence posts with warning signs — “STAY OUT! STAY ALIVE!” — but that’s about all he can do about this hazard for now. There wasn’t enough money to fill the thousands of abandoned mine shafts around Arizona even before the state’s budget crisis.

“I’ve probably covered a hundred in the last year and a half, and that’s not even a good start,” he said.

Tyra said he could fill mines cheaper and faster if he were allowed to use waste tires. State law limits him to concrete, gravel and bricks, which he said are expensive to obtain and haul.

“We could get all those tires and put them to good use,” he said, noting that waste tires are piled up around Arizona.

Rep. Russell L. Jones, R-Yuma, is sponsoring legislation that would allow waste tires in mines in a five-year demonstration project. HB 2290 would allow the Arizona state mine inspector to test tires in five abandoned or inactive mines.

There are thousands

Ray Smith of Green Valley is open to the idea but sees some challenges.

Smith, 93, is the former president of Michigan Technical University and now spends part of his week as a “Hazardous Abandoned Mine Finder” working for the Forest Service.

He and his volunteer team pinpoint mine shaft locations and pound signs in a 100-by-100-square-mile area that extends from Tombstone on the east to Sasabe on the west; Nogales at the south to just north of the Catalinas in Tucson.

He’s been doing it for 20 years and says he has found 7,000 open mines in the area, a few within walking distance of Green Valley. Nobody knows for sure, but Smith guesses there are at least 50,000 in Arizona.

He said the average depth is 30 feet, but they can go much deeper, and do a lot of damage.

He said the challenge of using tires is getting them to the actual mine site, which often is remote. He also said the shafts are “very irregular — it’s not just like a great big well.”

District 30 Rep. Frank Antenori said the process involves grinding up tires and using a coating that hardens, followed by a covering of dirt. The tire material is blown in, much like insulation that expands.

Antenori, a co-sponsor of the bill, said without the tires, “It would be far more expensive to deal with.”

District 30 Rep. David Gowan, another of the bill’s sponsors, did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Solving a problem

Jones said the bill addresses not only abandoned mines but the problem of waste tires that the state hasn’t found enough ways to recycle. Leaving tires piled up creates the possibility of huge fires.

“It is an ecological disaster waiting to happen,” Jones said.

The measure would require that mines filled with tires be covered with earthen material at least 10 feet deep. It also would require the mine inspector to convene a working group to assess the effectiveness of waste tires as mine fill and evaluate potential public safety and water quality problems.

The program would be funded by gifts, grants and donations, according to the bill.

In 2009, Jones introduced a broader bill that would have allowed waste tires in mines after state officials addressed safety and environmental issues. That bill won House approval but was held in the Senate.

Earlier this month, the House Natural Resources and Rural Affairs Committee endorsed Jones’ bill on a 5-3 vote despite concerns raised by an environmental group and the state’s own environmental experts.

Sandy Bahr, conservation director for the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter, said the state mine inspector’s priority isn’t environmental health.

“Fire hazards, wildlife and threats to ground water suggest there should be an assessment beforehand,” she said.

Jim Buster, a legislative liaison for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, told lawmakers his agency opposes the bill because it would take away environmental oversight. However, he said he thought ADEQ could work with Jones on changes the agency would support.

Includes information from the Green Valley News.

Key provisions in HB2290

Would allow waste tires to be used as fill for up to five mines selected by the Arizona state mine inspector through 2015.

Would require those mines to be covered by earthen material at least 10 feet deep.

Would require the state mine inspector to convene an abandoned mine reclamation working group to evaluate the effectiveness, safety and environmental impact of using waste tires in mines.

Would establish a fund to administer gifts, grants and contributions that would be designated for the project.