Tire legislation offers solution for open mines

The publication of two stories this week in The Sun - one about a mine accident and the other about legislation to deal with abandoned mines - was coincidental, but the linkage was nevertheless timely.
 
The accident story involved the rescue of a man from an open mine shaft in a remote area south of Tacna in eastern Yuma County. Apparently, a group in the area saw the mine shaft and one member looked over the edge. In the process, he fell in when the edge gave way.
 
Fortunately, another member of the group called for help and the man landed on a ledge 15 feet down in the shaft rather than falling another 100 feet to the bottom of the mine. Rescues arrived and pulled him to safety with only minor injuries.
 
It is not the first mine shaft accident to occur in our county, or around the state for that matter. There are literally thousands of open mine shafts around the state and people who are trying to enjoy the outdoors encounter them and sometimes fall in. The consequences have been fatal.
 
A bill introduced by Yuma's Rep. Russ Jones in the Legislature (HB2278) seeks to help remedy this problem.
 
Under the plan, abandoned mine shafts could be filled with old tires under a covering of at least 10 feet of earth. There has been a long-standing problem with disposing of old tires and the legislation seeks to help solved both the mine and tire issues.
 
Actually, the tire proposal was originally included in a law passed last year to fill abandoned mines with concrete, asphalt and other inert materials - but tires were eventually deleted. Objections have again been raised this time by those who are concerned about the tires potentially having hazardous materials which could leach into the groundwater and the potential they could catch fire and burn for long periods of time.
 
There is a need to address and remove these concerns about the tires, but still the proposal could help reduce the danger of abandoned mine shafts in Yuma County and the rest of the state.