The Economic Times

In 1972, Florida dumped 2 million tires into the ocean to build the worlds largest man-made reef; decades later, the military had to remove them

In 1972, old tires were submerged as an artificial reef, but they didn't succeed in fostering marine life and instead became a daunting environmental issue for many years. Unusual orders sent soldiers on a mission to retrieve these rogue tires; they skillfully used cranes and bags to lift and transport them to Army landing vessels. The gathered tires were then incinerated to generate energy for a recycling plant.