Environmental claims and environmental disaster: the story of tire artificial reefs of the atlantic coast

• In Event: Grasping at Science: Tire Reefs, Trees, Weather Simulations, and Milk Plastic

Abstract

In the second half of 20s century, coastal communities of the Atlantic states of the US started to suffer from a decline in fish stocks resulting from overfishing, coastal development, and other kinds of environmental degradation. At the same time, the continuous growth of the living standard of the American people created a rapid increase in the popularity of recreational fishing. Artificial reef building was chosen as a solution able to overcome this problem. Economic considerations and values that prevailed in American society led to the decision to use spare tires as a building material for this goal. In total more than 700 tire reefs, containing tens of millions of waste tires were created off the Atlantic coast starting from the 1960s and before the turn of the century.
The results of using tires in marine engineering were disappointing. First, rubber proved to be unsuitable material to sustain the community of sessile organisms for a long time. Second, tires created serious problems due to their instability. Tire reefs were easily disintegrated by storms resulting in massive tire wash-ups on beaches and the destruction of natural coral reefs.
The aim of this paper is to identify social processes that led to this environmental disaster and to study the role of applied science in these processes. Using mass media publications, peer-reviewed scientific communication, and applied-scientific grey literature, I apply the social-constructivist concept of environmental claims-making to conceptualise the social processes involved in tire reef-making activities. I will argue that the claims-making was not only speculative and not based on solid evidence but also predicated on colonial narratives that stress conquering and harvesting the ocean as a resource. This paper demonstrates the importance of values in the context of applied environmental sciences.

Author

• Dmitrijs Porsnovs, University of Stavanger