I received an interesting press release from SHARK (Showing Animals Respect and Kindness), in which it appears Winge Pointe (the “Resort Luxury for the Sport Shooting Enthusiast” that also holds barbaric pigeon shoots) may find itself in hot water again. Apparently on October 23rd, after another pigeon shoot, people on the property were caught burning something…but what? Pigeons? Perhaps, but there’s more…. burning tires on its property. You can view their actions on a video taped by SHARK here.
According to SHARK:
“After documenting a live pigeon shoot on October 23, 2011, we saw a large billowing plume of black smoke rising from the property,” states SHARK President Steve Hindi. “We thought that they were burning the pigeons that had been shot. We flew our remote controlled aerial vehicle (fitted with a video-camera) in the public, navigable airspace, and were able to film the burning pile at Wing Pointe far below. Along with the burning pigeons, tires were also being burned on the property.”
In the video, you can see a man rolling tires and throwing them into a large fire on the ground. There appears to be a pile of tires to the left of the fire, and a number of black, burning tires on the fire itself (slightly to the right).
According to SHARK, the tape has been sent to the PA Dep’t of Environmental Protection and has called for an investigation into potential violations of environmental laws. And rightly so. The burning of tires is not only toxic to the environment but dangerous to humans. But why should they care?
We can’t forget that Winge Pointe is the home of pigeon shoots in Berks County. This is a place where hunters can have a “luxurious time at the resort” that holds canned hunts. Even hunters find this form of “hunting” reprehensible. This is a place where you can “rent” a dog, yes, rent a dog for your hunt.
Winge Poite is a place where the president of SHARK can get hit on purpose by a car driven by a member of the hunting club at the entrance on Rt. 662 and that member, Frederick Campbell, receives only misdemeanor charges and the end result are fines totaling $400.00.
Now this “hunting club” is burning tires.
The following can be found on the EPA’s website concerning the burning of tires:
“Tire fires, although infrequent, are serious situations that are difficult to extinguish and expensive to clean-up.
Tire fires often become major hazardous incidents affecting entire communities—frequently requiring neighborhood evacuations and long, drawn-out fire extinguishing operations. These fires threaten pollution of the air, soil, and water. EPA, states, municipalities, and private companies have spent millions of dollars cleaning up tire fires across the country.
EPA does not consider scrap tires a hazardous waste. However, if a tire fire occurs, tires break down into hazardous compounds including gases, heavy metals and oil. The average passenger car tire is estimated to produce over two gallons of oil when burned. (Source: Rubber Manufacturers Association, April 2003)
Oil that exudes into ground and surface water as a result of tire fires is a signficant enviromental pollutant. In some cases, this may trigger Superfund cleanup status. For every million tires consumed by fire, about 55,000 gallons of runoff oil can pollute the environment unless contained and collected. This oily material is also highly flammable.
Air pollution is also produced by tire fires. Air emissions may include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), benzene, styrene, phenols, and butadiene. For more information on toxic air pollutants generated by tire fires., go to EPA’s Toxics Air Pollution website.”
Not only does this hunting club involve itself in the antiquated and cruel killing of helpless pigeons, it is now placing hazardous toxins into the air that affect us. Have they no conscience?
“Burning tires is extremely hazardous,” states Hindi. “We hope the Department of Environmental Protection will promptly investigate this matter.”
Will the EPA find sufficent reason to stop Winge Pointe from further tire fires? It seems no one in law enforcement or the government wants to stop the horrific culling of innocent pigeons or do anything concerning the purposeful act of a hit and run collision with a fellow human being. Will tire fires cause a different reaction in those responsible for keeping us safe?
It is time for justice to take a stand for what is right and let’s hope someone can see the path through all of these smokey filters that have created roadblocks to the truth. Let justice prevail.