Ontario Tire Recovery victim of fraudulent Ontario Government media release

Mar 26th, 2008 5:14 AM

Ontario Tire Recovery victim of fraudulent Ontario Government media release (Hagersville, ON. March 26, 2008) On March 12, 2008, a fraudulent Ministry of Environment media release making allegations about local business, Ontario Tire Recovery Inc. (OTR) and owner Mike Moffatt, was distributed. The Ontario Ministry of Environment has confirmed that both the media release is a forgery and that OTR and Mike Moffatt were not charged or convicted of any offense. The Ministry of Environment has called in the Ontario Provincial Police to investigate. The counterfeit media release was faxed from a Staples outlet in Milton, Ontario; the exact number of media releases distributed is unknown. Mike Moffatt, President of OTR observed, “We are the victim of fraud designed to impugn our business and damage our reputation,” adding, “I have built this company on the basis of meeting or exceeding all Government requirements for the collection, storage, sorting and delivery of scrap tires for reuse and recycling. A core value of our business is the assurance to our customers that their scrap tires are being properly managed.” Ontario Tire Recovery has been at the forefront of promoting the need for a provincial scrap tire stewardship program that would involve: • The accreditation and registration of scrap tire collectors as part of participation in a tire stewardship organization; • The requirement for scrap tire generators to enter into commercial arrangements only with registered collectors and to make the existence of those agreements verifiable to the designated tire stewardship organization and the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MOE); and, • A tracking system for collected scrap tires to ensure collected scrap tires are reused or recycled and not stockpiled. “It’s sad but not surprising,” observes Moffatt, noting, “As a market leader pushing for a higher standard for scrap tire management in Ontario we’ve probably made a few enemies.” Ontario Tire Recovery is Ontario’s largest scrap tire collector. In 2007 it recovered almost 4 million tires in Ontario, all of which were properly sorted and delivered for reuse, recycling or energy recovery. For more information (or to confirm the authenticity of this media release) contact: Mr. Peter Hutley of Ontario Tire Recovery at (705) 783-8138 Mr. John Steele (416) 314-6666 at the Ontario Ministry of Environment