Puget Sound Tire Pile Removal Project
Scroll this StoryMap to learn about the derelict tire structures on the bottom of Puget Sound and the on-going efforts to remove them.
Aquatic Lands Restoration Program
The Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is tasked with the responsibility of managing over 2.6 million acres of state-owned aquatic shorelines, estuaries, and bed lands across Washington State. The DNR Aquatic Lands Restoration Program (ALRT) is working to facilitate the restoration of these SOAL with the intention to clean up, monitor, research and protect native aquatic habitats to further uphold and support Washington State's critical marine and freshwater ecosystems.
To learn more about the work ALRT is doing, check out the DNR website: Aquatic Lands Restoration Team | WA - DNR
Tire Pile Removal Project
The Tire Pile Removal Project is managed under the DNR Aquatic Lands Restoration Team and was established to pursue the cleanup of over 100,000 derelict marine tires on subtidal SOALs.
Scroll this StoryMap to learn a bit about the history of the Tire Piles in Puget Sound, and how DNR is working towards removing them with intention to eliminate the environmental risks posed by derelict marine debris in our public waters.
See tires on the beach? You can report them to MyCoast here !
Background
Reef Establishment
Potential habitat enhancement sites in the Puget Sound region (Buckley 1982).
Between the 1960's and 1980's, Washington State's growing salmon allocation issues and newly implemented conservation measures created an increased interest in recreational bottom fishing, particularly for rockfish (Sebastus spp.) and lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus). Unintentionally, this growing interest and uptick in recreational bottom fishing quicky spurred a depletion in their populations.
Both rockfish and lingcod have life histories that make them particularly vulnerable to overfishing and they were rapidly depleted from the few rocky outcroppings in Puget Sound that naturally supported them.
These rapid declines in bottom fish populations sparked an interest among Washington State Agencies and local dive communities in trying to recover these populations quickly so that recreational fishing and dive opportunities could remain abundant. In collaboration, Washington State Agencies and passionate small organizations toyed with ideas that could enhance fish habitat across the Puget Sound. With the intention to create more viable fish habitat, the idea to implement artificial tire 'reefs' was born.
In a matter of months, an organized effort of finding locations that would best suit artificial tire reefs took off, and numerous sites around Puget Sound were surveyed for fish productivity and diversity. Artificial tire reef sites were subsequently chosen based off the survey results, as well as proximity to piers, State Parks, and areas where bottom substrate lacked complexity.
From left to right: Scrap concrete used for habitat enhancement; Male lingcod (O. elongatus) guarding an egg mass on artificial structure; Rockfish (Sebastes sp.) utilizing artificial habitat structure; Rockfish (Sebastes sp.) utilizing automobile tire modules. (Photos: Buckley, 1982)
Reef Construction & Installation
Prior to the installation of artificial tire reefs in Puget Sound used automobile tires had already started to become a popular and inexpensive option for artificial reef building, both nationally and internationally, because of their availability and growing need of a disposal solution.
A Failed Experiment
Tires broken free from bundling (Osborn Reef, Florida) (Photo: LA Times).
Despite the well-intentioned attempt at creating more habitat for fish and bolstering habitat, years of surveys proceeding the implementation of these reefs suggested that fish were NOT utilizing this habitat as intended.
Instead, environmental concern was growing around the negative effects these piles of tires could have on the marine environment and species nearby.
These bundled tires went from 'reefs' to just piles of tires more quickly than anyone could have anticipated.
Environmental Concern
The biggest environmental concern to date has to do with the integrity of the banding material that was used to group these tire piles together. Subsequent dive surveys of the tire piles have shown that the harshness of the marine environment has caused the banding material to weaken, degrade, and break apart. The degradation of the banding material has allowed tires to break free from their bundles and from the main aggregation of the reef. With large storms, fast currents, and wave action, tires can now freely wash up onto beaches and negatively impact critical intertidal and subtidal aquatic habitat. Under these circumstances, loose and individual tires farther from the main aggregation of the reef quickly become more difficult to locate and more expensive to effectively remove.
Tires washed up in Budd Inlet (Photo: WDNR)
Another evident problem is the physical breakdown of these tires into smaller pieces - microplastics and micro rubbers. With single and loose tires washing up on shore and into environments with more exposure to UV light harsher environmental conditions (i.e. rapid temperature changes), the speed of tire degradation is higher. Tire degradation not only poses the risk of spreading microplastics and rubbers farther from the tire pile aggregations but has the potential to be a source of chemical leaching. More research is needed to better understand the potential of marine tire pile leaching.
Electric scooter debris seen on underwater video at a tire site (Photo: WDNR).
Lastly, many of the tire sites located near piers, docks and other public locations utilized for recreational fishing have accumulated large amounts of monofilament fishing line. Because of the large amounts of fishing line debris that has accumulated on the tire piles, some tire pile locations have become a hazardous and pose a risk of entanglement for divers and aquatic animals. More recently, as seen in underwater video recorded by DNR, there have been other types of debris that have been dumped at tire pile sites.
Puget Sound Tire Cleanup Efforts
With the knowledge that these Tire Piles have become a source of marine debris and have potential longer term negative impacts, Washington State Agencies have come together to initiate a plan to inventory, survey, and ultimately remove them. Because a majority of the Tire Pile are on SOAL, DNR was deemed the lead State Agency responsible for coordinating the cleanup effort.
Since the 1960's when implementation of these tire piles began, much information of exactly where and how big these Tire Pile sites are was lost..
DNR's Project Status
DNR has identified 14 sites on state-owned aquatic land to prioritize for removal. DNR intends to establish a framework for large-scale marine tire pile removal and develop best management practices for subtidal restoration and marine debris removal into the future.
DNR Priority Sites
Click around the app below to view site details.
Sidebar
Puget Sound Tire Piles Collaborative Efforts
Cataloging and surveying the tire piles of Puget Sound has been a joint effort and wouldn't be possible without the collaboration of a number of entities:
- Washington Department of Ecology (DOE)
- Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission (WSPRC)
- Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW)
- Washington Scuba Alliance (WSA)
- Nations and Tribes of Washington State
You can check out Washington Scuba Alliance & Coastal Sensing and Survey efforts below for more information:
Project Publications
Check out current reports, data, and information available on the Tire Reefs of Puget Sound:
- Washington Dept. of Natural Resources:
- Washington Scuba Alliance: HDSonarScans (wascuba.org)
- Coastal Sensing and Survey: Puget Sound Tire & Trash Reefs — Coastal Sensing & Survey
- Other:
Did you know?
Osborn Tire 'Reef' Removal (Photo: LA Times)
Washington State isn't the only State facing the repercussions of artificial tire installation!
Florida has been working towards Tire Removal since the early 2000's and continues to prioritize this work to prevent further native habitat destruction. Read more about their on-going work: Osborne Reef Waste Tire Removal Project | Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Contact
Questions? Reach out!
- Cassidy Biondo, DNR Aquatic Lands Restoration Manager
- Cassidy.Biondo@dnr.wa.gov
- Christopher Roberston, DNR Aquatic Lands Restoration Program Manager
- Christopher.Robertson@dnr.wa.gov
Tires within Puget Sound Tire Sites (Photos: DNR)