Titan and U.S. federal authorities resolve longstanding dispute

Titan Tire International has agreed to pay more than $11.5 million to the US federal government to resolve a longstanding environmental dispute in Iowa.

The tire maker has signed an agreement in the Iowa District Court that will pay $1.62 million in legal fees, $5.45 million in fines and another $5.45 million in past government costs.

Titan Tire International, including a subsidiary of Dico Inc., was previously sued by federal authorities for alleged violations of an EPA regulation at its Des Moines plant and its separate Southern Iowa Mechanical (SIM) plant.

This is a long-standing litigation involving the contamination of sites with a solvent called trichlorethylene (TCE), which was once widely used in manufacturing but was later banned due to its harmful health effects. The substances got into the surrounding area and contaminated the factory buildings themselves.

The Titan company hired SIM to dismantle three buildings in the contaminated area, but allegedly did not warn the contractor about the presence of chemical contamination at the site. SIM transported building materials to its site in Ottumwa, Iowa, which also caused TCE contamination there and required cleanup work.

In 2017, a district court judge ruled that the company should pay compensation, but Titan said it disagreed with the decision, after which the trial continued.

Dico has operated in Des Moines for approximately 40 years, manufacturing steel wheels and using chemicals and pesticides. Titan Tire International bought the plant in 1993 and closed it two years later.