So much for "due diligence". This is a recipe for West Nile Virus and other mosquito breeding grounds. Suggests that NY isn't as concerned about the problem as I have believed.

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/117/region/Property_seizure_makes_county_:.shtml

Property seizure makes county owner of NY's largest illegal tire dump

By Associated Press, 4/27/2001 09:10

HALFMOON, N.Y. (AP) Mistakes and heavy snow have left an upstate New York county the not-so-proud owner of the state's largest illegal tire dump.

Saratoga County officials took ownership in January of the Mohawk Tire Storage site in Halfmoon near the Hudson River. A county couple originally bought the parcel for $675 at a March tax auction but took back their deposit after finding out it was a tire dump.

When the couple reneged, the county was left with the 25-acre site and the eight- to 13-million tires that dot it. When a county employee inspected the site before the auction, the tires were covered with snow, county officials said.

''I don't know how we missed it,'' County Attorney Mark Rider told the Albany Times-Union. ''It slipped through the cracks.''

The state closed the tire dump in 1999, citing environmental and fire hazards. A contractor will complete a $2.3 million cleanup in the coming weeks, cleaning the site, creating fire lanes and installing fire hydrants.

Once the cleanup is finished, the state Department of Environmental Conservation will relinquish control of the site, giving it over to its new owner. The state is suing former dump owner Vincent C. Williamson over various violations of environmental law.

Now, the county wonders about liability over existing and future environmental concerns.

''Let me tell you, environmental remediation is a costly proposition,'' Malta town Supervisor David Meager told the newspaper.

The DEC and state Attorney General's office will determine what, if any, liability the county has.

-- Anonymous, April 27, 2001