Four sites in area scheduled for cleanup
BROWNSVILLE – Mattresses, shingles, furniture, broken toys and lots and lots of tires; that’s what can be found at multiple sites along Century Road and Mill Street in Brownsville Borough and Brownsville Township. PA Cleanways is coordinating a cleanup of the four sites along the unpaved roads in the borough and township, with funding for the project coming from Wal-Mart. Officials examined the sites Friday to make sure they were suitable for volunteer cleanup.
Dave Planinsek, a waste management specialist with the state Department of Environmental Protection, joined Susan Urchek of PA Cleanways, Carl Williams of Cleanways of Fayette County, Ted Knisely of Brownsville Township and James Lawver of Brownsville Borough for the site tour. The borough street department was patching holes on Century Road as the site visit was conducted.
“We come through here every morning and there’s new stuff here every day,” said street department employee Lew Hosler Jr.
Hosler pointed out a new pile of shingles that had been dumped along the road recently. Planinsek said he’d like to work with the local police to coordinate the enforcement to end the trash dumping.
Lawver, who heads the borough’s code enforcement and community development committees, said the borough has successfully prosecuted several people under a new ordinance that sets the minimum fine for illegal dumping at $500.
Urchek said the plan for the four sites is to have the borough and township crews remove most of the trash using their high lifts, then to have volunteers finish cleaning the areas by hand. Brownsville High School students are scheduled to help with the cleaning Nov. 19 and 20, with community volunteers joining the effort Nov. 21.
“We try to restrict using equipment and volunteers at the same time, just for safety reasons,” Urchek said.
Planinsek said he didn’t see any hazardous chemicals or other items that would prevent the areas from being cleaned up by volunteers.
“The nails are probably the most common hazard,” Planinsek said. “If you step on one, you need to go get a tetanus shot. This is all construction demolition waste and household garbage.”
Planinsek said volunteers also run the risk of getting cut on broken glass, or being injured by slipping on debris.
Urchek said PA Cleanways will provide the volunteers with safety vests, work gloves, trash bags and a free lunch.
The areas along Century Road and Mill Street are long-time problems. Knisely said that there hasn’t been much new dumping at the site in the township since the supervisors blocked off the access to the dump area.
Urchek said that getting the sites cleaned up should help reduce future dumping and help with future ordinance enforcement.
“Trash attracts trash. We’d like to get the road adopted,” Urchek said.
By adopting Century Road or Mill Street, the individual or group would be committing to cleaning the area twice a year.
“We find that most of the dump sites that we clean up stay clean,” Williams said.
“Once this is all cleaned up, if there is new dumping, it’s easier to prosecute,” Urchek said.
Urchek said the borough could also get some enforcement help from DEP, or even from the Fish and Boat Commission if a waterway is involved. Urchek said DEP also installs cameras at problem sites.
“That’s a last resort, if cleaning, education and enforcement don’t work,” Urchek said.
It was noted that the trash haulers for the borough and the township will take large items if they are contacted in advance, with a small fee charged in some cases. Items such as car batteries and tires can be recycled, and construction materials can be disposed of properly at a licensed landfill, Planinsek said.
Williams said nine cleanups were held in Fayette County between October 2008 and the end of September, involving 101 volunteers. More than 111 tons of trash and 2,164 tires were removed from the nine sites.
Anyone interested in participating in the cleanup can contact Urchek toll free at 1-877-772-3673, Extension 106, or by e-mail at surchek@pacleanways.org.