TIRE DUMPER JAILED IN PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY
Attorney General Urges Tire Dealers to Use Licensed Haulers

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that Kenneth Eugene Snowden, 48, of the 10000 block of Woodlawn Boulevard in Upper Marlboro, Maryland was sentenced to jail for illegally dumping scrap tires behind a business in Lanham. Snowden entered a guilty plea before Judge Hassan Ali El-Amin in the District Court of Maryland for Prince George’s County.

Snowden was convicted of discarding scrap tires in the rear parking lot of the Speedwash Laudromat, located at 7800 Annapolis Road, on May 2, 2003. The dumper was immediately confronted by store employees and forced to remove the dumped tires. Later, investigators with the Attorney General’s Environmental Crimes Unit were able to identify Snowden as the tire dumper.

Snowden was sentenced to 30 days in jail. Judge El-Amin ordered him to serve 20 days and upon his release be placed on 18 months of probation. Snowden was also fined $1,000, which was suspended pending the successful completion of the period of probation. The maximum criminal penalty for disposing of scrap tires is 30 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Snowden was previously convicted in St. Mary’s County in October for hauling scrap tires without a license. Although licensed at one time, Snowden’s scrap tire hauler’s license was revoked by the Maryland Department of the Environment in 1999. Maryland requires tire dealers to use licensed scrap tire haulers to help prevent illegal tire dumping. Tire dealers in Prince George’s County and Southern Maryland are urged to avoid using Snowden, or any other unlicensed hauler, for the disposal of scrap tires.
“ The Attorney General’s Office, along with local authorities, will aggressively pursue chronic tire dumpers. Tire dealers, gas stations and other businesses that generate scrap tires should be aware of their responsibility to use only licensed tire haulers,” Attorney General Curran said.

Last year, the Maryland Department of the Environment spent over $2.6 million to clean up illegal scrap tire dumps. Individual property owners are also victimized by untold additional clean-up costs each year. Anyone with questions about whether a particular tire hauler is licensed should contact the Maryland Department of the Environment’s Scrap Tire Program at 410-537-3315 or 800-633-6101, ext. 3315.

The convictions follow a joint investigation conducted by the Environmental Crimes Unit of the Office of the Attorney General, the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department, and the Maryland State Police with the assistance of the Maryland Department of the Environment’s Scrap Tire Program. Additional criminal charges against Snowden in the District of Columbia are still pending.

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