land contamination, sustainable practices, recycling, pollution, environemental racism, institutional racism, quality of life
Scrap tire contamination has been a growing concern for many years now. Exponential population growth and our dependency on cars has fueled this problem and will continue to do so unless we find sustainable practices to deal with this problem. NIMBY politics has pushed this problem beyond our borders and into international soil. The U.S./Mexican border region has become a growing concern. More and more used tires are being imported to Mexico which means more and more tires are being improperly disposed. New and sustainable solutions need to be put into place. Mexico shares our border, the problems affecting their people and their environment will in time affect us the same way. This study will explore the problems the border region faces, social and environmental issues, and will seek new methods for proper disposal and recycling of the tires.
http://www.epa.gov/usmexicoborder/
http://www.bnamericas.com/news/waterandwaste/Schwarzenegger_signs_bill_to_finance_tire_disposal_in_Baja_California
http://knovel.com/web/portal/browse/display?_EXT_KNOVEL_DISPLAY_bookid=92&VerticalID=0
This proposal outlines a research strategy to examine the ongoing and ever-growing problem of scrap tires at the U.S./Mexican border region. Every year Mexico imports millions of used tires from the United States to sell in their market for cheaper prices. The tires have a low life expectancy, which in turn, leads to the massive improper disposal of tires—dumping. This has been a growing concern because the contamination of scrap tires in this region has had great affect on the environment and the people. The research strategy will be to focus in on the California/Tijuana region, in particularly the Tijuana River, and analyze case studies, government documents, and proposed projects that have targeted designated problematic areas and determine how it directly affects the people and the environment in that region. The analysis aims to uncover the problems these tires have caused and seek alternative solutions for the proper disposal and recycling of these tires in order to make this region more sustainable. I will also discuss the methods and practices that are currently being used to dispose of the tires. Also, I aim to explore an underlying key issue—is it a by-product of environmental racism?
This Senior Research Project was designed to address the issue of scrap tire contamination in the U.S.-Mexico border region with emphasis on the San Bernardo community in Tijuana, Mexico. Cities along the U.S.-Mexico border region have had a long history with pollution, but it was not until recent years that scrap tire contamination became a devastating problem in the region. Serious health and environmental problems have been associated with scrap tires—including health complications arising from mosquito borne diseases, and tire fires which threaten to contaminate the natural environment with hazardous pollutants. The purpose of the project was to find out how communities and the environment were being affected by the contamination of scrap tires in the border region. The question this Senior Research Project took on was, how were the communities and the environment affected by the contamination and what methods were being used or could be proposed to help improve its conditions? The research strategy consisted of analysis of numerous books, academic journals, and government documents (such as the U.S.-Mexico Border 2012 Program), visits to Mexico and interviews with local residents of the San Bernardo community.
For many years Tijuana and other cities along the U.S.-Mexico border have suffered from pollution problems, but it was not until recent years that scrap tires became a devastating land contamination problem in the border region. The influx of used tires from the United States, fueled by a growing market in Mexico for cheap used tires, led to an over consumption of used tires. Also, the lax security/regulation at the border entries further contributed to the problem—only one million used tires were allowed to enter Mexico legally every year yet on average an additional million managed to get imported illegally. This resulted in massive dumping and a serious land contamination problem. Massive tire piles, consisting of thousands of scrap tires, now exist along the U.S.-Mexico border. While these tire piles have proven to be a health and environmental hazard, the scrap tires also served as an important civil engineering application in the San Bernardo community. Scrap tires became an alternative, affordable, and readily accessible building material in poor communities. The problem went unregulated and ignored until 2002 when Mexico and the United States joined forces and created the Border 2012 Program, which was dedicated to improve the environment and protect the health of the people living along the border. Since its initiation it has helped clean up over 4 million scrap tires. But in the end, Mexico is just one of the many developing countries that constantly battle such problems at the mercy of the developed nations.
The Border 2012 Program will be reviewed to see what types of plans are being proposed to help the scrap tire contamination at the border region and why. Also, the Scrap Tire Technology and Markets book published by the EPA will serve as a good reference to the types of technologies being used to dispose of tires and the types of markets that use recycled tires.
San Diego and Tijuana, Location of Scrap Tire Piles, San Bernardo community in Tijuana
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