A Vidor tire shop owner has been fined more than $30,000 for violations that Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) investigators detail occurred for more than a year while the community sustained significant health and safety risks.
Feb. 22, Vidor-based Superior Tire and Service owner Michael Hughes was found culpable for multiple infractions occurring at the North Main property in 2020 and 2021. According to the petition used in securing TCEQ penalty and corrective action, the Hughes-owned and operated automotive mechanic shop located at 1175 North Main St. in Vidor was the subject of investigations and reviews in December 2020 and June 2021 that documented a litany of actionable issues at the municipal solid waste, scrap tire, and industrial and hazardous waste facility.
“Specifically,” the TCEQ report detailed, “approximately 600 scrap tires were stored on the ground at the facility and one 250-gallon tote containing scrap tire pieces approximately equivalent to 31 scrap tires were stored at the facility without a scrap tire storage site registration.”
The list of infractions continued at length, starting with the 600-plus trash tires holding standing water, loitering the property with no manifest or work order, and lacking proper paperwork. Fire protection systems were noted as deficient or nonexistent, and Hughes was allegedly caught “recycling tire tubing to produce new tires for cherry-pickers and forklifts without a registration.”
Used oil “was not labeled properly,” and oil-based goods and services were improperly noticed, tracked and reported to the regulation agency. Additionally, the collection and disposal of industrial and hazardous waste at the site came under heavy critique.
TCEQ reported that Hughes failed to secure the bulk used-oil filter container in a closed, waterproof manner, the 55-gallon drum containing used-oil filters at the facility did not have a lid, and this “caused, suffered, allowed, or permitted the unauthorized disposal of industrial and hazardous waste.”
“Specifically,” TCEQ data notes of Superior Tire and Services’ illicit dumps, “nine empty 250-gallon totes previously containing TyrFil Isocyanate Component and one 275-gallon chemical tote containing TyrFil Isocyanate Component were disposed of at the facility.
“Additionally, 40 cubic yards of tire tubing were documented to be excreting a milky, creamy yellow substance, a liquid residue from TyrFil Isocyanate Component containing polyurethane polyol component and polyurethane isocyanate component, onto the surrounding concrete at the rear of the facility.”
TCEQ filed actions against Hughes on March 28, 2022, and requested compliance the following month via written notice.
“According to USPS.com ‘Track & Confirm’ delivery confirmation records, Hughes received notice … on April 13, 2022,” TCEQ’s petition for findings in 2023 read. “Respondent failed to file an answer and failed to request a hearing.”
Nearly a year later, TCEQ board commissioners met to decide what penalty should be assessed against the Vidorian mechanic. The TCEQ Commission, utilizing the administrative penalty authority granted under Texas law, entered a default order against Hughes assessing a monetary penalty of $37,430 “justified by the facts … and considered in light of the factors set forth in Texas Water Code § 7.053.” Hughes was ordered to pay in full by March 24, and the penalty amount will only cover the violations alleged in the Feb. 24 petition. Any other violations will be addressed separately, the TCEQ explained.
“The Commission shall not be constrained in any manner from requiring corrective actions or penalties for violations which are not raised here,” the final order decreed.
Also as part of penance for the current TCEQ violations brought in the February 2023 petition, Hughes is required to “immediately” cease generating, storing, and/or processing any additional used and/or scrap tires at the facility until the proper registration is obtained; and cease disposal of any industrial or hazardous waste, develop procedures to keep proper books for mandatory reporting, post appropriate signage for oil-based services, and install adequate fire protection.
According to the business’ online presence, the company is permanently closed at its Vidor location. The property that once held the business was listed for sale but has since been removed from the market. Currently, Superior Tire Pros operates at the Vidor address.