By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
One use for 1 1/2- to two-inch rubber “nuggets” made from tires recycled by the new Deerpath facility in Dowagiac's industrial park is in septic fields, such as the one excavator Michael Demski installed in his own backyard on Clawson Road in Berrien County's Pipestone Township.
Another product, nuggets tinted brown, offers a termite-free alternative to wood chips for home landscaping.
The council approved a 12-year tax abatement on a $312,145 real property investment expected to create 20 jobs.
Demski said the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) operated 20 test sites in the Clare area around 1997.
It also has other applications, from highways to football fields.
While flipping through his “junk mail,” an article caught Demski's eye about the use of tire chips down South, from Texas to the Carolinas,
Demski said the system outside his house the next road west of the Cass County line on Brush Lake Road contains the remains of 1,139 tires.
Priest was there to inspect the system Monday afternoon after about a year of working with Demski, who was in journalism 4 1/2 years with the Iron Mountain Daily News.