Baton Rouge gets federal grant for industrial tire shredder to combat blight

Baton Rouge gained a new tool in its fight against blight: An industrial tire shredder paid for by a $500,000 federal grant awarded to the East Baton Rouge Office of Mosquito Abatement and Rodent Control.
Councilmembers Matt Watson and Tara Wicker secured the grant today, as part of the pair’s commitment to eliminating city-parish waste, Watson says in a press release.
The tire shredder—which processes old tires, either to be recycled or repurposed—can transform how the city-parish handles tire waste, reducing costs and helping rid Baton Rouge of health hazards caused by piles of abandoned tires.
“Illegally dumped tires are more than an eyesore,” says Todd W. Walker, director of the office of Mosquito Abatement and Rodent Control, or MARC. “They hold warm water and become breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which are proven transmitters of West Nile virus, Zika virus and Dengue.”
MARC has identified 109 piles of tire waste containing about 8,000 tires, though there are likely many more throughout East Baton Rouge Parish, Walker says.
The tire piles must be treated every 30 days to prevent mosquito breeding, he says, adding that even one tire can produce a large number of mosquitoes in a short amount of time.
“In terms of disease prevention, shredding a single tire eliminates countless future mosquitoes and saves money by eliminating the need for future spraying,” Walker says.
Watson arranged a tire shredder demonstration in May to show how the city-parish could improve the way it tackles tire waste, which was met with positive feedback from community leaders.
“Our blight problem needs fresh, aggressive thinking to get past many years of indifference,” says Watson.