UPDATE - According to Nate Olson with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), Muhammad Zameer and his business, Tristate Contracting of Brinkley, LLC, was ordered to clean up and dispose of approximately 400,000 tires at the Cotton Plant site.
If Zameer fails to comply with the temporary order or requests a hearing, ADEQ will seek a permanent order.
ORIGINAL - COTTON PLANT, Ark. (KTHV) - For four years, tires have been illegally dumped on a lot in Cotton Plant. Throughout that time, residents say they've tried getting the dump-site cleaned up, to no avail.
Thursday, Aug. 9, they'll get their day in court, thanks to the help of an Arkansas state agency.
The owner has been cited for a handful of environmental infractions. The people there are worried about the appearance, how that could affect development and especially the safety.
Ernesteine Shelton, a lifelong resident of Cotton Plant and city council member estimated that there are thousands of tires on the property.
"This is a hot mess. For one, it's probably all kind of bugs in there, snakes, there's probably an alligator up in there. There's no telling," Shelton said.
And it's not just the vermin. In June THV was in Cotton Plant after residents suspected a serial arsonist was at-work, burning down abandoned properties. No one has been charged.
Shelton, and Arthur Crenshaw, another lifelong Cotton Plant resident, told us they've been living in fear, that if the arsonist targets the thousands of tires just off Main Street, the entire town could go up in flames.
"If some fool come by here and light them, then you'd have to evacuate Cotton Plant,” Crenshaw said.
Shelton echoed Crenshaw's concern, saying no one knows what's in the pile of tires. She says for four years, when residents, including those on the city council, asked questions about where the tires came from and when they'd be removed, no one got a response.
"When they first started this tire thing, we didn't know anything about it. Nobody knew anything about these tires but him," Shelton said, referring to Mayor Willard Ryland. "If you're doing wrong, you're going to do it by yourself, because guess what? I always say in every meeting, 'I, Ernesteine Shelton am not going to jail for you,” she said.
Ryland responded, saying the tire dump was there before he took office in 2015.
"This started out with the prior administration before I came into office. Those tires were there then," he said. He said he's been working with the owner of the tires, Muhammad Zameer, to get them removed.
He also has a vested interested in their removal. Just beyond the tires, is where Cotton Plant's new medical marijuana facility is supposed to be.
"The City of Cotton Plant has the greatest hope it has ever had, with the medical marijuana coming to this community. This is a turning point,” Ryland said.
He said the tires were his first priority when he took office, but that focus changed when he began petitioning for the marijuana distribution facility.
The concerns of Cotton Plant made their way to the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality. Thursday, the ADEQ will take Zameer to court for various environmental infractions.
THV11 reached out to Zammer, but haven't heard back from him.
"I really do think we've got a good shot. Someone needs to be held accountable for these tires,” Shelton said.
The court hearing will be held Thursday morning at the Woodruff County Courthouse.