The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), in partnership with Keep Oklahoma Beautiful (KOB), will recognize The City of Wilburton as an Oklahoma Clean Community during a special ceremony scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on Monday, August 8th, 2016. The ceremony will be held at 300 West Main Street in Wilburton.

The City of Wilburton promotes community environmental stewardship by involving volunteers, businesses, civic organizations, and civic leadership in various environmental projects, cleanups, and recycling events.

Each April, the City of Wilburton organizes a Clean Up Month where residents are given the opportunity to properly dispose of tires and other hard-to-handle materials, and are encouraged to get involved with various beautification projects.

Wilburton participates in many Keep Oklahoma Beautiful projects and programs including the Great American Cleanup and Fresh Paint Days. Other beautification efforts include participating in the ODOT Adopt-a-Highway program and proper disposal of dilapidated buildings to prevent health and safety hazards.

The City of Wilburton offers recycling education to students, provides recycling bins at strategic locations around the City, and has a recycling drop-off center that is open to residents year-round. This recycling center also accepts tires which are then picked by a permitted facility for recycling.

As a result of their activities, Wilburton is cleaner and has reduced many risks to human health and the environment. Wilburton is now an Oklahoma Clean Community.

DEQ and KOB recognize entities that participate in at least one tire collection event annually and other environmental service projects. DEQ encourages entities to coordinate a community-wide cleanup of used tires. DEQ’s Tire Indemnity Fund will pay to haul off old, unused, or abandoned tires. Tire piles can be an eyesore and attract unwelcome pests, such as mosquitoes and rodents. After cleanup is complete and all criteria for other service projects are met, a community can be recognized as an Oklahoma Clean Community.

More information on the Used Tire Recycling Program is available at https://www.deq.ok.gov/land-protection-division/recycling/tire-recycling/ or by contacting Ferrella March at ferrella.march@deq.ok.gov or 405-702-5175.

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