BATON ROUGE - The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality selected the first six recipients of the Waste Tire Pilot Program.

The program is an initiative created by the agency to give parishes resources to address unauthorized tire disposal through reimbursement-based funding of up to $20,000.

Areas awarded with the funding include: Gretna, West Monroe, Iberville Parish, Lafourche Parish, Ouachita Parish, and Terrebonne Parish. 

"For too long, unauthorized tire dumping has created health, safety, and environmental concerns across our state," LDEQ Secretary Courtney J. Burdette said. The funding will be used to purchase equipment, pay workers handling collection, install barriers, and clean up newly discovered unauthorized dump sites.