Glendening’s company, Touche’ International, Inc., T.C.E.Q registration number 79557,  remains listed on the T.C.E.Q.'s web as a registered scrap tire processor. So I guess that one can still do business with them, assuming that having the owner in jail for illegal tire dumping is not a problem. Touche’ International was originally registered as a scrap tire hauler back in 1999. Glendening had a simple plan: (1) charge tire generators in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area to haul tires, no doubt by waiving a hauling registration letter from the T.N.R.C.C. under their noses; (2) haul the tires to Grayson County (about 400 a day); (3) dump tires in the field; (4) ignore neighbors’ howls; and, (5) repeat steps (1) through (4) until stopped. And stopped he was, by Grayson County Environmental Officer Jim White, who executed arrest warrants on Glendening and his driver in November 2001. Jim was kind enough to fetch Glendening from Burleson and transport him back to the Grayson County Jail in handcuffs. Of interest is the fact that the Texas Litter Abatement Act had been modified effective September 1, 2001 to include commercial dumping over 200 pounds as a state jail felony violation. Jim, the Grayson County Health Department and others had been working for two years, about from the time the dumping first began, trying to get the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission to step-in and stop Glendening administratively. There was some eventual success in this, for in August 2002, the commission found Touche’ International to be in violation of the Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act (Health & Safety Code Chapter 361) and various agency rules and set a default administrative penalty of $11,600. This penalty against the company has grown to $12,006 on the report to the T.C.E.Q commissioners on February 10, 2006. I’m thinking that the state shouldn’t plan on ever collecting this particular money.

Of interest is that the company under which Glendening operated is still being touted by the agency in some recent reports. For instance, in the 2005 Progress Report on Using Scrap Tires and Crumb Rubber in Texas Highway Construction Projects, a periodic report jointly made to the state legislature by the T.C.E.Q. and Texas Department of Transportation, Touche’ International is listed (as it has been since 1999) in APPENDIX A. STOCKPILE VOLUMES AT FORMERLY REGISTERED FACILITIES, END OF CALENDAR YEAR 2004, as having carried an inventory of 300,000 scrap tires in 2002, 2003, and 2004. Notice what happens when we don't link the two entities -- Glendening and Touche' International -- administratively. Since the company wasn't also charged with a crime, it's hard to see how the T.C.E.Q. can be expected to have its records reflect reality.  

Following his arrest, Glendening’s journey through the legal system was slow, if unremarkable. The case was actually filed in the 15th District Court in August, 2002; he was arraigned the next month and docketed in September 2002. Then a series of about ten continuances were granted between January 6, 2003 and when the Grayson County prosecutor personally got after the case in August 2005. There were some totally understandable delays. For example, during all this the original felony attorney assigned had to go serve over a year in Iraq with the Army Reserve. There were other delays caused by the complexity of the case and the specialized sort of prosecutor skills required. The normal course of events was already flowing to some sort of determination when the trial began in late-September 2005. However, another factor in getting this thing moving was, without doubt, the fine reporting work of Paul Adrian at FOX 4 News in Dallas. Paul responded to a call from neighbors of the tire dump in summer 2005 with a great news story, complete with dramatic shots from the FOX 4 helicopter. There were clearly a lot of tires in Grayson County, with nothing much being done about them. Paul caught up with Glendening as he was leaving his offices and stuck a camera in his face. The clincher was his response to Adrian's question, "Do you have any parting words for the citizens of Grayson County?" to which Glendening responded, "Adios!" This has to be on any list of dumb things to say to a jury pool by a criminal defendant, but there it was. Things moved nicely after that as Grayson County District Attorney Joe Brown took personal charge of the case. 

Pending his appeal, Glendening may eventually serve some time in state jail and owe the state his $10,000. And everybody up in Grayson County is a whole lot smarter about the need to respond quickly when an organized tire dumper sets up camp. But what about the tires? Today they remain in the field in northwest Grayson County. Mosquitoes continue to breed and make life miserable for neighbors. The threat of their becoming fuel in a wildfire this summer – or during a subsequent drought – is real, and because of their remote location, fighting a fire there would be a major undertaking, absolutely requiring state resources. Moving the tires to a cement plant for energy recovery would cost somewhere around $1 a tire, for a removal fee of somewhere around $250,000 total. So what options does the county have in getting these tires removed? These come to mind, but if you have others, please let us know and we’ll pass your suggestions along:

• Go through Touche’ International’s manifests and discover the generators of the tires, seek compensation from them and attempt to force removal if they don’t cooperate (anybody seriously up to fighting Wal-Mart and Target?);
  
• Aggressively request the T.C.E.Q. to remove the tires under the argument that it was their regulation process, not closely enough monitored, that resulted in the 200,000 to 300,000 tires being in the field;
  
• Go after the owner of the field (Mr. Glendening apparently defaulted on a note to the owner made back in 1999 for $68,000 after paying around $15,000, according to press reports) for operating an unpermitted landfill; 
  
• Get hustling on creating and funding a Supplemental Environmental project; or, 
  
• Pay for removal from the Grayson County general fund or other taxpayer resources.

Anybody have any brighter ideas?