Clinton County residents who want to get rid of their old unused tires that have been lying around will have the opportunity to do so over a three-day period late next week during Tire Amnesty Days.

The state funds the program which runs in three-year cycles and this is the year for Clinton County and other area counties to host the amnesty days to collect tires to be disposed of at no expense to residents.

Tire Amnesty days will be held next Thursday, Friday and Saturday, April 14, 15 and 16 at the District 8 State Highway Maintenance Garage building on Hwy. 2063. Residents may drop off tires on Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturday, April 16 from 8 a.m. to 12 noon.

Clinton County, in cooperation with the Kentucky Division of Waste Management, is sponsoring the collection program to allow Clinton County citizens a chance to dispose of waste tires at no charge. This includes tires on rims.

The only tires that will not be accepted are: calcium filled; off-road construction; foam filled; solid with pressed on-rims; and equipment tires with a bead greater than 1-3/4 inch. Also, tires will not be accepted from retailers, agricultural tire retailers, scrap dealers, salvage yards or tire recyclers.

Clinton County Solid Waste Coordinator Rick Stearns noted that tires cannot be dropped off at the collection site prior to the Tire Amnesty dates and can only be dropped off during the designated hours. “People will be on hand to unload tires that are brought in,” Stearns said.

He noted that the state Division of Waste Management is funding the project with a grant and the amnesty days are held once each three years.

During the last tire collection across the state, over 22 million unused tires were collected and disposed of and during the last Tire Amnesty days in Clinton County in 2013, some 30,590 tires were collected and disposed of free of charge.

Stearns said that the county has been collecting unused tires from roadways and other areas all across the county and have stored them in a central location to be taken to the maintenance garage during the tire amnesty days next week.

Stearns also said that there is no limit to the number of tires a resident can take to the drop-off site.

The tire amnesty days come at the same time that Dale Hollow Lake roads will be cleaned and also during the month which is PRIDE Cleanup month in the southern and eastern portion of the state. (Separate articles on both appear elsewhere in this week’s Clinton County News.)

The local recycling program is being sponsored, in cooperation with the Division of Waste Management, by the Clinton County Recycling Center and Clinton County Fiscal Court.

For more information on the Tire Amnesty Days in Clinton County, people may contact Stearns at 606-688-4040, the Clinton County Recycling Center, or the Clinton County Judge’s Office.