Ecological disaster in the US – one mistake cost $140 million

In the 1970s, about two million car tires were sunk off the coast of Florida to create an artificial reef. The metal fasteners rusted, and the tires began destroying natural reefs. Cleanup will cost nearly $140 million, with over 600,000 tires already recovered, and the process will take another 14 years.

Off the coast of Florida, a long-running environmental disaster caused by an ambitious 1970s project to create an artificial reef from two million old car tires continues to demand enormous funds. The metal fasteners rusted, plastic ties broke, and millions of loose tires began moving chaotically along the seabed, destroying natural reefs and corals. The cleanup operation, which began in the 2000s with military support, has recovered over 600,000 tires. Each tire extraction costs about $30. The remaining reef debris covers an area of over two thousand hectares along eight kilometers of coastline. Full completion will take at least another 14 years. Divers must manually scrape off young corals that have grown on the tires.