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More than 500 tires have been removed from the landscape in Logan County by Logan Empowerment, Action and Development (LEAD) Community Organization. The tires are scheduled to be picked up by the West Virginia Tire Disposal Company and will be recycled.

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The Logan Empowerment, Action and Development (LEAD) Community Organization has undertaken many projects and programs within the county since its organization. The top priority has been in cleaning up trash, but they have also been involved with flood cleanup, food drives, clothing drives, homeless pets and beautification projects.

One of the first goals established by the LEAD after their introduction was to remove 300 tires from the sides of the roads and creek banks of Logan County.

“LEAD is proud to say the weekend of May 19, they surpassed the 500-tire mark by removing 204 tires on Saturday alone from the Buffalo and Rum Creek areas,” said MAJ Richard Ojeda.

Ojeda said he has some amazing citizens who are volunteering their time working to make a difference in the county.

“I have developed relationships with some amazing citizens that are willing to give up their Saturdays in order to make a difference in Logan County,” said Ojeda. “Delegate Rupie Phillips has been on a few tire sweeps that have focused on the Man area and he is pleased to see people willing to roll up their sleeves and get dirty to make Logan a place where people will want to come and visit.”

“The Watershed Association works around the clock to keep the rivers and streams clean so having LEAD establish a way to get rid of the tires that tend to make their ways into the streams has been wonderful” said Phillips.

“None of this would be possible had it not been for Mark McGrew donating space for us in his tire lot in the Holden area” said Ojeda. “When LEAD initially started this mission, the biggest obstacle was locating a place where they could store the tires. The West Virginia Tire Disposal Company will be making a trip to Logan to pick up the 544 tires removed from the landscape of Logan and will have all of them recycled. LEAD will now postpone tire removal projects until the Fall/Winter timeframe so they will be able to see the tires when the leaves are gone, not to mention the nuisance of snakes that are now using some of the tires for homes.”

Ojeda said the majority of Man and Logan have been targeted by the tire sweeps so in the fall, Lead will start to focus on the Chapmanville, Lake areas.

“LEAD would like to thank their dedicated team of citizens who have all been willing to roll up their sleeves and get filthy while contributing significantly to the beautification of Logan County,” said Ojeda. “The team consisted of Shawn and Donovan Wolford, Larry Rogers, Larry Kammerer, Rupie Phillips, Arnold Campbell, John Fekete and Shawn Adkins. Without these wonderful citizens, none of this would have been possible.”