Alert in Collserola for an illegal tire dump: there are hundreds

BarcelonaThe heat was beginning to reach the houses on the slopes of Collserola, and a neighbor, looking for some fresh air, opened her windows. Suddenly, she heard a loud bang echoing through the ravine in front of her house. It was just a few minutes after eleven at night and she saw an unmarked van close its trunk doors and accelerate down Calle Manuel Arnús. Once again, an organized group had dumped a handful of used tires in the Collserola Natural Park.

This is how a group of individuals has been operating for at least a month, turning the ravine that borders the Barcelona neighborhoods of Sarrià-Sant Gervasi and Gràcia into an illegal dumping ground where hundreds of tires have already accumulated. The black sea of ​​these vehicle parts along the Aigües road leads local residents to suspect that these dumpings began in winter. "It's a single white van that comes here every night and dumps several tires. To dump that many [tires], it takes many trips on different days," says a neighbor, who prefers to remain anonymous.

On June 12, she saw a group of people unloading tires for the first time. "A neighbor had already alerted us to this dumping, so I thought about what they could be doing. When I saw them, I grabbed my cell phone, started recording, and called them so they knew we had them on file," she explains. The next day, she reported the incident to the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police), but since it was nighttime and the area was barely lit, the recording was useless to identify the vehicle's license plate.

The chronology of the landfill

As other residents of the area explain, in mid-May, a resident of the same building located a few meters from the affected area saw from the rooftop the hundreds of tires that were already piling up among the trees and bushes in the area, which alerted the neighborhood. But it wasn't until June 6, two weeks after becoming aware of the presence of the tires, that a neighbor saw firsthand how the tires were dumped down the ravine, also around 11 p.m. and operating in the same manner.

At this point, a police investigation is open to determine who is behind this serious environmental violation.. According to ARA, in conversation with the Guardia Urbana (Urban Police), this continued dumping of tires "is most likely an environmental crime." Even so, the Collserola Natural Park warns that the removal of the tires will not be carried out until the investigation is complete. The park estimates that the cleanup will cost more than €6,000, a significant figure given the difficult access to the area, which will require the removal of many of the tires manually.

"I think they've become emboldened," says the neighbor who saw them acting recklessly at an hour when cars are still circulating in and out of bars in the area, such as Mirablau and Mirabé. In fact, a few days ago, after some media reported on the illegal dumping, the white van unloaded again.

What dangers could this pose to the natural park?

End-of-life tires (ENDTs), like most of those found at the landfill, can pose a significant risk to nature and the creatures that inhabit them due to their high fire risk and the components they are made of. Not long ago, on June 16th, when the tire dump had already been identified by officials, a man set a fire just a few meters from where the tires were located, which was quickly extinguished by firefighters and the City Police. If the flames had reached the landfill, it could have caused a natural disaster due to the rapid ignition of rubber and the toxic fumes this material gives off when burned.

The fact that vehicle tires are made of highly resistant materials becomes a disadvantage at the end of their useful life, as they can take between 500 and a thousand years to decompose naturally. That is why end-of-life management of these elements is essential. If left untreated, tires exposed to rain, heat, and radiation can release harmful compounds into the soil and water that persist for years.