Commentary: An epic fix for Vashon’s rogue tires

How often have you noticed derelict tires littering our island’s beaches?

Recently, I counted more than 20 of them on two recent, short, low tide walks — one along Tramp Harbor east of Portage and the other between Klahanie and Dilworth. Those tires aren’t just eyesores. They contain hazardous chemicals that slowly disperse into and contaminate marine ecosystems through chemical leaching, microplastic pollution, habitat disruption, and bioaccumulation of toxins.

These chemicals are poisonous to salmon and other fish, shellfish, crustaceans, filter feeders such as whales, bivalves and krill, and even plankton, disrupting the food web. As tires break down, they release tiny rubber particles and micro-plastics into the water and sand. These particles can get ingested by marine organisms and seabirds, and if they are buried, they can disrupt burrowing species.

Fear not! There is a solution to this problem, and you can help. Join the Vashon Rotary Club and island partners for a Global Day of Action on Saturday, May 17, 2025.

As part of Rotary’s “Epic Day of Service,” we will join thousands of others around the world to make a difference in our communities. On Vashon-Maury Island, we are tackling beach pollution, and we need your help.

In addition to cleaning up all the plastic and other trash on Vashon beaches, we will be focusing on rogue beach tires. Vashon Rotary is partnering with Vashon Parks, Zero Waste Vashon, King County Parks and Solid Waste Departments, Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, Vashon Adventures, and other organizations and islander activists for this event. We are also working with artist Addie Boswell, who will be transforming lots of the beach trash into works of art.

Where are these tires coming from, you ask? For some, we have to go back to the 1960s, when a plan to create artificial reefs in Puget Sound with car tires was hatched by Washington’s Department of Natural Resources.

The goal was to attract native reef fish to improve recreational fishing opportunities. A few dozen groups of tires (totaling more than 100,000 tires) were strung together with polypropylene rope and placed at the bottom of Puget Sound in the 1970s and 80s. Then the Law of Unintended Consequences kicked in, when the plastic string broke and the tires started moving around, with some washing ashore on Puget Sound beaches, including Vashon-Maury Island.

Cassidy Biondo, DNR’s tire removal project manager, told me they have a massive cleanup effort in progress, having already removed two of the 15 priority tire reefs out of the over 35 identified reefs. DNR is limited to working on state-owned sub-tidal aquatic lands, which is why we are pitching in to help with the Vashon beaches.

Vashon Rotary is working with island residents and organizations to identify the locations of rogue beach tires and which segments of the 52 miles of Vashon shorelines need the most attention. We will provide recycled feed bags — thanks to Erinn McIntyre — and instructions.

Details on how to sign up, and collection staging locations, are available at tinyurl.com/VashonRotaryTires. If you have any questions or have more ideas, contact Steve Bergman by emailing scbergmanvashon@gmail.com.

Steve Bergman is a geologist, Zero Waste Vashon board member and Whole Vashon Project advisor.