Click here to subscribe today or Login.
By TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER tmorgan@leader.net
Tuesday, January 25, 2000 Page: 3A
WILKES-BARRE – The owners of a former racetrack in Bear Creek Township
hope to obtain a state grant to help pay for the removal of an estimated
50,000 tires from the property, an attorney said.
A judge on Monday ordered Recreation Realty, Inc. of Kingston, owner of
the former Pocono Drag Lodge Racetrack, to submit a disposal plan within 60
days and begin removing the tires within nine months.
The order, issued by Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Peter Paul
Olszewski Jr., also directs the corporation to remove household garbage and
demolition debris from the property within 45 days.
Complaints from neighbors prompted the state Department of Environmental
Protection to order the company in 1998 to clean up the property. The
corporation failed to meet certain deadlines, prompting the DEP to seek a
court order forcing the corporation to comply.
John O’Connor, attorney for Recreation Realty, said the corporation is
working to resolve the environmental problem, but has been hindered by the
estimated $100,000 cost to remove the debris.
“You don’t have disinterested or malfeasant people ignoring what’s
happened, but disposal of tires is an expensive operation,” O’Connor said.
“This corporation is basically financially defunct.”
O’Connor said the tires were used as safety barriers while the racetrack
operated from 1961 to about 1972. During the years, people illegally dumped on
the abandoned property without the knowledge of the owners, he said.
The property is located on Meadow Run Road off of state Route 115, about
three miles south of the entrance to the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Township officials say the tire pile is a major concern because of fear of
fire. Also, stagnant water in the tires can be a breeding ground for
mosquitoes, which might carry diseases.
Supervisor Chairman Ed Benkoski said a 129-lot housing development recently
received preliminary approval for a lot adjacent to the site, escalating fear
of the damage a fire could do.
“We wouldn’t be able to control a fire of that magnitude. We’d lose
everything,” Benkoski said.
Benkoski and Supervisor Vice Chairman Tyrone Gayeski said the township is
working with Recreation Realty to obtain a grant through the state’s Waste
Tire Recycling Act, a fund established in 1996 to aid municipalities in
removing tire piles.