A businessman and an employee were arrested Wednesday, accused of illegally dumping thousands of tires in Lake Wales.
Investigators say, some 8,000 tires were found piled up under a pole barn at a private residence in at 5310 Sand Dollar Road, located in Lake Wales Estates.
Robert Bickford, 30, who lives at the Sand Dollar Road address, told investigators he is employed by Lowman’s Greenway Tire in Lakeland, and he was paid to let the company dump the tires there.
Loman’s Greenway Tire, is only permitted to transport waste tires to a licensed, permitted waste tire recycling facility, deputies said. Instead, Lowman had tractor-trailer loads of tires delivered to Bickford’s property, which is not licensed to store or process waste tires.
Investigators said, the waste tires were found within 200 feet of a natural body of water, and less than 500 feet from a potable well. Deputies also found evidence that the tires were being illegally burned on the property.
Bickford was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with one count each of failing to obtain a waste tire permit, storage of wast tires at a non-permitted facility and open burning within 50 feet of a residence, among other charges. He remains in the Polk County Jail on $4500 bond.
Deputies also arrested, Kenneth Loman, 67, of Loman’s Greenway Tire. He has been charged with one count of illegal dumping and has been released on bail.
