ASHTABULA, OH – February 9, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Sanford Schroll and his company, American Scrap Tire Recyclers Inc. (ASTRI), pled guilty on Feb. 4 in Ashtabula County Court of Common Pleas to one count of operating an unlicensed scrap tire collection facility.Schroll, 73, of Geneva, was sentenced to two years of community control and a $10,000 fine. Ashtabula County Common Pleas Judge Alfred Mackey told Schroll the fine will be suspended if he cleans up all of the scrap tires located at 2730 Walter Main Road, Geneva. If he fails to clean up the property, he could face two years of incarceration.
Judge Mackey also fined ASTRI $10,000, with the same conditions for cleanup and suspension of fine.
Schroll has a history of failing to comply with the state’s scrap tire regulations. From 2003 to 2008, the Ashtabula County Health Department and Ohio EPA made repeated attempts to compel Schroll to clean up thousands of tires on ASTRI property at 3574 N. Myers Road, Geneva Township. Eventually, the Ohio EPA used money from the state’s Scrap Tire Fund to clean up the property.
In 2009, Ohio EPA’s Office of Special Investigations (OSI) became aware that Schroll was again transporting tires without a license and storing them in trailers on the Walter Main Road property. During the course of the investigation, OSI discovered that neither Schroll nor his company possessed a valid license for this property to serve as a scrap tire collection or recovery facility.
This case was prosecuted by the Ohio Attorney General’s Environmental Enforcement Section on behalf of the Ohio EPA.
Unlicensed scrap tire sites pose a substantial fire threat and can serve as a breeding ground for disease-carrying mosquitoes. Anyone with information on tire dumping should contact their local health department or the Ohio EPA at (877) 372-2621.
To view a copy of the indictment, visit: www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/SchrollIndictment.
Media Contacts:
Ted Hart, Attorney General: (614) 728-4127
Mike Settles, Ohio EPA: (614) 644-2160
