Tacony Creek Park, located near the Olney section of Philadelphia, is again home to an estimated 4,000 discarded tires. An outfit of roughly 100 volunteers and city workers are hoping to get rid of the pile this spring, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
According to the story, the tire dumpers “severed the lock on a SEPTA gate and swapped it with one of their own for easy, repeated entry. Over consecutive nights, or weeks, they maneuvered in a vehicle, hurling thousands of tires into a ravine at Tacony Creek Park — and transformed part of the widely used park into a clandestine dump.”
The trail of tires “comes within feet of the creek” and measures some 30 feet deep in some spots and stretches at least 100 feet long off Newtown and Adams avenues, The Inquirer said. Tacony (also spelled Tookany) Creek flows through Glenside, Abington and Cheltenham townships, Jenkintown, Elkins Park and beyond.
The volunteers, along with city workers, will haul the tires out on sleds and then a contracted hauler will dispose of them. The cleanup is scheduled for 9:00am on April 5.
“This is by far the largest I’ve seen in my 20 years of working in the public space and city government,” said Justin DiBerardinis, executive director of the nonprofit Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership (TTF). “And talking to folks who’ve spent their whole careers in [Philly] Parks and Rec, this the biggest pile of tires in the Philadelphia park system that anyone can remember.”
The source of the tires “remains a mystery” and was discovered by officials in November 2024, The Inquirer said.
“Officials suspect they were abandoned by a contractor hired to haul tires from auto and tire shops, who opted to dump them illegally rather than pay steep tipping fees at a proper recycling or disposal facility,” The Inquirer said.
Illegal dumping at the park is not new. In 2022, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation crews removed 18 tons of tires prior to a cleanup of 9.8 tons (19,600 pounds) of tires and trash. Another effort to remove almost 30 tons of tires took place last year.
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Photos: TTF Watershed