4,519 Illegally Abandoned Tires Found In Jefferson

Over the past 15 years Morris County’s mosquito control crews have collected more than 60,000 illegally abandoned and discarded tires across 37 municipalities, the county announced Wednesday.

The tires are found mostly in difficult to reach wooded and swampy areas in all sections of the county, officials said, and create a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes.

The overall total of tires retrieved is 60,346 as of the spring of 2016, dating back to 2001 when the tire collection program began.

Tires have been collected from more than 1,200 locations in 37 of the county’s 39 municipalities over the past decade, with the most found in Rockaway Township, Mount Arlington, and Jefferson.

No tires have been found in Mendham Borough or Mendham Township, the county said.

Mosquitoes can breed by the tens of thousands in just one tire, said Kris McMorland, Director of the Morris County Division of Mosquito Control.

A small team of county mosquito control crews on foot and all-terrain vehicles and trucks head into the woods and swamps during the late fall and early winter months, continuing into March to find and retrieve the tires throughout the region, officials said.

“Removing abandoned or illegally dumped tires not only helps reduce mosquito levels and the threat of West Nile virus, but improves environmental quality,’’ said McMorland.

County residents should check with their towns to see if tires are accepted at local recycling centers. If not, the MUA accepts old tires on Saturdays only at the Parsippany Transfer Station (Not the Mount Olive transfer station). The cost is $200 per ton or about $2 for each car tire or $8 for a set of four car tires, off the rim. Some towns will accept a limited number of tires for free and others charge, so you should check with your individual town about costs, the county said.

See the full list of collected tires per town here: