By JILL MCNEAL
6 News Anchor/Reporter
NEWPORT (WATE) - A Cocke County man is offering a cash reward to find out who's dumping trash on his family's farm. Michael Ervin says it's been happening for years, but it's gotten worse than ever.
Ervin estimates there are maybe 150 old tires littering the bluff above the river and blocking a walking trail.
"It's stupid," he said. "They're throwing this stuff here when we're only two and a half miles from the landfill."
The Ervin family owns 700 acres off Highway 25/70 between Newport and Del Rio.
"I'd say somebody came in with a dump truck and dumped them all here," Ervin said.
He guesses the tires may be rejects from a retreading business. "You can see where most of them have very little tread and when you want to retread tires, they want to have 10 or 15 percent of the tread left," he said.
Ervin plans to file a report with the sheriff's office and he's considering installing a surveillance camera to try to catch the culprits himself.
For now, he bought some "No Trespassing" signs to hang. He's also offering a $200 reward for information leading to the arrest of whoever is responsible for the mess.
"It infuriates me. I can't understand why," Ervin said.
If you have any information about who's dumping trash on Michael Ervin's family farm, you can email him at mikeerv@yahoo.com.
Michael Ervin estimates there are maybe 150 old tires littering the bluff above the river.
