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Pa. Farmer Could Lose Land in Tire Dispute

Posted on: Friday, 17 March 2006, 09:00 CST

SHIRLEYSBURG, Pa. - Properties owned by a farmer with an estimated 200,000 tires on the land may be sold to pay more than $330,000 that regulators say it will cost to remove the tires, a state court ruled.

Gerald Booher, 70, said Thursday he hopes to fight the March 8 decision, but is not sure how.

Booher has been feuding with the state Department of Environmental Protection about the tires since 1988, when he agreed to store them on his land for a local auto mechanic.

Booher said he intended all along to build a fence with the tires to keep deer off his property and that regulators approved those plans.

DEP officials disagreed and have sent him at least 15 notices of violation to have the tires removed, contending they are a fire and health hazard because mosquitos can breed in water that pools in the tires.

The agency argued that Booher transferred two of the properties to his children in the 1990s, and a third 12-acre parcel where the tire fence is located to a local sportsmen's club, to avoid responsibility for the tires.

Booher said he deeded the properties to his children simply so they would inherit the land when he died.

But the court found the transfers were fraudulent and ruled against Booher.

Booher, who has spent more than nine months in jail on various contempt of court findings during the dispute, owes $15,000 in fines, plus interest and court costs.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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