Reports of illegal tire dumping in South Bend

SOUTH BEND, Ind. --- Reports of tire dumping in South Bend have surfaced online, according to a South Bend Common Councilmember.

A Facebook user wrote his alley has about 100 tires dumped along the length of his block on Donald Street near Miami Street. District 3 Councilwoman Sharon McBride said it’s an eyesore.

“It’s not fair for you know the neighbors who are trying to keep their area and neighborhood clean,” she said.

Raymond Robb, who lives near Donald St., said he has seen couches, tires, and other types of trash dumped in the alley behind his home. On Tuesday, ABC 57 News saw close to 20 tires thrown out in the alleyways.

According to the following ordinances any type of dumping is prohibited:

-        Sec. 16-40 Uncontrolled dumping deemed nuisance; inspection upon complaint

-        Sec. 16-57 Abatement by the city

Robb said there’s nothing he can do to get rid of the tires and calls them a nuisance. The City of South Bend’s Department of Code Enforcement said the problem is a ‘travesty’ which continues to happen.

According to an annual report from 2018, the department collected more than 7,000 tires across the city. Nichole Cooper, who lives in South Bend, said the trash problem is disgusting.

“There’s trash everywhere and it’s not all ours they just throw it wherever,” she said.

The department said they believe most of the tires are dumped by fraudulent disposal companies. However, an official said it’s hard to prove who is doing the dumping.  

Currently, when the department receives complaints about tires being dumped an inspector and the N.E.A.T. crew is sent out to pick up the tires. However, the department said a problem crews often have is finding the exact location of the tires.

An official said it’s important for people to use the exact address of where the tires are located. For example, they ask people to send in addresses like ‘1234 Apple Rd.’ or ‘the alley west of the 100 block of Orange Street.’

McBride said the city takes care of tire disposal for free if a person can drop of their tire or tires to 828 Kerr Street. But if you’d like to report illegal tire disposal, the city said call 311.

“Whether you do it anonymously, there’s still a way they can at least track you had a code complaint,” she said.