SHIRLEYSBURG, Pa. (AP)-Three properties owned by a farmer with an estimated 200,000 tires on his land can be sold to pay more than $330,000 state regulators say it will cost to remove the tires, the Commonwealth Court has ruled.

Gerald Booher, 70, the Huntingdon County farmer at the center of the March 8 ruling, said he hopes to fight the decision, but isn't sure how he'll do that.

"I don't know what I can do. But I do know one thing," Booher said Thursday from Haines City, Fla., where he was fixing up other property he owns. "If they'd have told the truth, there never would have been a violation."

Booher has been feuding with the state Department of Environmental Protection about the tires since 1988. That's when Booher agreed to store them on his land for a local auto mechanic.

Booher says he intended all along to build a fence with the tires to keep deer off his property and that regulators approved of those plans. DEP officials disagree and have sent him at least 15 notices of violation to have the tires removed, contending they are a fire hazard and health hazard because mosquitos can breed in water that pools in the tires.

At issue in the Commonwealth Court case was whether Booher still owned the property in question. State regulators argued that Booher transferred two of the properties to his children in the 1990s, and a third 12-acre parcel where the tire fence is located to a local sportsmen's club, to avoid responsibility for the tires.

The court found the transfers were fraudulent and entered a judgment against Booher.

"The judgment gives us the ability to sell the property to get the money that we need to do the cleanup, which is our intent," DEP spokeswoman Sandy Roderick told The Daily News of Huntingdon. "Our intent would be to sell off the property, at sheriff's sale, to get the money. We didn't want to use state funds to clean up this property."

Booher said he had deeded the properties to his children simply so they would inherit the land when he died.

DEP officials estimate it will cost $330,000 to clean up the tires. In addition, Booher-who has spent more than nine months in jail on various contempt of court findings during the dispute- owes $15,000 in fines, plus interest and court costs.

Booher said he's willing to cover the tire fence with dirt and to reseed it to eliminate any potential environmental problems, but says he shouldn't lose his farm to have the tires removed.

"I can eliminate that (environmental) problem; I can do that," Booher said. "But to sell the properties so they can pay to remove the tires, that's wrong."

On the Net:
http://www.dep.state.pa.us
http://www.helpgeraldbooher.org

Source: AP-AP Wire Service