MILTON, Vt. -
This is a story that's made headlines for five years now. It's all over a pile of tires
In fact, it could be close to a million. Thursday, the owner of the salvage yard was back in court because the state wants them removed.
It's actually not even just the tires the state wants removed, it's the dirt too. Environmental officials found lead contaminated soil on the property. But the junkyard owner says he doesn't have the money to remove them. So we wanted to find out... Who pays? It turns out we do, Vermont tax payers.
For more than 40 years, ABC Metals was a popular junk yard in Milton, Vt. Run down cars and scrap metal once filled the lot. Today, it's no longer in business and tells a much different story.
"We'll have some questions for Mr. Rhoades," Assistant General Attorney Scot Kline said.
He's back in court. About 9 months ago, the salvage yard owner Gilbert Rhoades was given 90 days to remove the hundreds of thousands of tires that have accumulated over the years.
This is video of the junk yard Thursday. His attorney is arguing in court that he doesn't have the money.
"Very simply, he has no assets or resources to pay what are very significant costs of environmental remediation," Mike Gadue said.
Prosecutors painted a different picture and argue Rhoades could contribute to the tire removal. "We feel there's a need for more disclosure to have a complete picture," Kline said.
At the last court hearing, the state required that environmental officials investigate what's happening on this property, because the biggest concern neighbors have is whether or not the contaminated soil is a health hazard.
Prosecutors say the tire pile is several hundred feet long and 30 feet high, so it could cost up to one million dollars for the clean up. The agency of natural resources will use $75,000 worth of tax payer money to start the project.
In addition to coming up with the money to remove the tires and contaminated dirt, Rhoades has been ordered to pay more than $40,000 in fines.
