Rubber Tires in the Sea: Actually Not a Great Idea

Why did sea life fail to form in the artificial reefs created by used tires? The Associated Press asked some scientists about it:

“No one can say with certainty why the idea does not work, but one problem is that unlike large ships that have been sunk for reefs, tires are too light. They can be swept away by the tides and powerful storms before marine life has a chance to attach. Some scientists also believe the rubber leaches toxins.”

Tire reef

(Photo from Anastasia Walsh/Sun Sentinel, via Associated Press)

This entry was posted on Monday, February 19th, 2007 at 9:30 am. It is filed under Archives, Nature, Sustainability. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

4 Responses to “Rubber Tires in the Sea: Actually Not a Great Idea”

  1. Andrea says:
    February 19, 2007 at 12:48 pm

    That picture is so disturbing. Ugh.

  2. Glenn Dale Kromminga says:
    February 19, 2007 at 4:23 pm

    I wonder why the idea was not great. Could it be for the same reason dumping “waste oil or chemical processing residue” in oceans would be a disaster? Who’s stupid idea was this? The chemicals in the tires are a disaster in themselves. Oceanic chemicals have a corrosive effect on ship metals which is why they break apart in several hundred years. The chemicals in tires do not interact well with the chemicals in oceanic waters.

  3. ray robbins says:
    February 19, 2007 at 8:20 pm

    why wasn’t there an environmental impact study completed before this blunder?

  4. Dawn Chan says:
    February 19, 2007 at 9:33 pm

    Right? It seems like the kind of thing that would obviously be tested and tested and tested before being carried out on a large scale.