Editor, the News-Herald:

I saw the pile of used tires, shown in Tuesday’s paper that were discarded on the Pitchkettle Road off-ramp to the Rt.-58 bypass. I don’t suppose that very many people who see that article will think anything about it.

The facts are that tire dealers, that dump used tires in this manner, are stealing from all of us. For every new tire sold the dealer is required, by state law, to collect a $1 clean-up fee to pay for the expense to clean-up tire dumps all over the state. The dealer can keep 5 percent of this $1 fee to defray his paperwork costs. In addition, the dealers charge at least an additional dollar for each tire replaced by a new tire for disposal of that used tire.

Any tire dealer that illegally disposes of his used tires is stealing from all of us, not just those who buy new tires.

When he accepts the $1 disposal fee from you he is promising to dispose of that tire in a legal manner. The $1 fee collected by the state is not sufficient to cover costs of cleaning up old tire dumps therefore this clean up must be subsidized by the taxpayers.

The 75 tires dumped on Rt.58 were removed by VDOT whose expenses were paid from money intended for road building and maintenance. Your money. The dealer who dumped these tires stole $75 from us plus the cost of removing his tires.

I suggest that the state offer a $1,000 reward to any employee of a tire dealer

who provides information to law enforcement about illegal dumping by his employer.

The dealer, if convicted, would be required to pay this reward in addition to any other penalty given.

Macon N. Sanford

Suffolk