96 Sewickley Creek Watershed Volunteers Clean Up Illegal Dump

Sewickley Creek Watershed Association partnered with Westmoreland Cleanways, the Borough of Youngwood, which included their volunteer fire department, recreation board and employees, and the PA Resources Council to celebrate The Great American Cleanup of Pennsylvania 2009 by picking up roadway litter and cleaning an illegal dump site.

 

The cleanup, conducted April 25, was part of the 5th annual, statewide event promoted by Keep PA Beautiful, a state affiliate of Keep America Beautiful.

 

The partnering organizations, along with students from Wendover Middle School, Boy Scout Troop 465, and local residents focused on Buncher Park, the Borough of Youngwood, the Youngwood – Armbrust Road, Fairgrounds Road and a large illegal dump site near Hunker.

 

This year, a total of 96 volunteers collectively picked up 353 bags of trash, 233 tires, and an assortment of other discarded items including car body parts. As part of the event in 2008, a statewide record 175,200 volunteers from all 67 counties removed 10.54 million pounds of trash from roads, parks, schools, waterways, wildlife areas and communities.

 

Julie Wible Novak, 8th grade science teacher at Wendover Middle School, Hempfield Area School District noted, “It is really an eye-opening experience for my students when they see the damage that is done through littering and illegal dumping. If I make one student think twice about littering or participating in anything else that harms the environment, then my efforts are worth it. If my knowledge gives one student the motivation to try to teach others about caring for our environment, then my efforts are worth it.”

 

“This was the largest turnout of volunteers we’ve ever had for the annual cleanup,” reported Larry Myers, Board member of the Watershed Association. “We really appreciate the hard working volunteers who gave up a Saturday morning to make the area a little cleaner and safer. It’s very unfortunate that we have to clean many of the same roadways year after year.”

 

The group is very appreciative of the event sponsors who include Jioio’s Restaurant, Shrimpo’s Pizza, Starbucks, New Stanton Sheetz, Youngwood Sunoco, New Stanton Eat n Park, Wal Mart and Giant Eagle. The Association encourages you to support their businesses and asks that you thank them all for supporting the event.

 

Sewickley Creek Watershed Association is a nonprofit group whose mission is to implement programs to improve water quality and encourage proper land use throughout its 168 square mile watershed, drained by Sewickley Creek, in Westmoreland County.

 

Iron Oxide Recovery and the Association was recently awarded the 2008 Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence for its innovative remediation of an abandoned mine discharge site in Lowber, PA.

 

For more information, visit the Sewickley Creek Watershed Association website.