More than $18,000 will be allocated by the US company Lift-A-Loft Corp. to conduct environmental probe of the old CR3 tire recycling site that had endured a long-lasting tire fire in August 2003.

The Delaware-based company will have to provide the funds for the area’s testing after it signed a deal with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management which initially urged Lift-A-Loft Corp to pay a fine of more than $23,000 after the corporation allegedly violated waste control laws at its plant two year ago. The deal also forces the corporation to pay to the state the remaining part of the fine estimated at $4,680.

The provided sum for CR3 site’s analysis will be added to the funds granted by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency directed into soil and water testing of the former rubber recycling site.

If the tests find that the place doesn’t have dangerous pollutants, the site may be purchased by a landscape architect, Josh Perkins, where he may relocate his initiative, Plant Studio Landscape. Perkins called the site in its current state an “eye sore” noting that he wanted to make it useful as the outdoor space could be used to store his company’s pavers, mulch and other products.

The recent development project comes after in 2003 the old CR3 rubber recycling site was destroyed by a fire; the blaze also resulted in a massive tire fire. Earlier tests showed that ground water at the site was contaminated with volatile organic compounds.

Press release by The Star Press.