For recent cleanup results, click
on a county below:
| Check our
Calendar
of Events to see if there is an upcoming cleanup
in your area. There are other ways to get
involved as well, such as adopting a local roadway,
greenway, or other special place, starting a local chapter,
or by contributing to PA CleanWays' Clean
and Green Fund. |
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Since 1990, the PA CleanWays network has performed over
914 illegal dump cleanups. The red dots on the map indicate
a sampling of our notable cleanups. The map will
be updated periodically, so please check back often to
learn about more notable PA CleanWays cleanups. |
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If you lay every
tire flat on the ground that PA CleanWays has collected, they
would span from Pittsburgh to Erie and 50 miles out into Lake
Erie!
| For nearly
two decades, the PA CleanWays grassroots network has been
cleaning dumpsites and littered areas across the state
of Pennsylvania. Along with its other programming, such
as recycling
and special collection events, PA CleanWays and
its chapters and affiliates have removed over 10,580 tons
of trash and recycled 2,170 tons of scrap metal from Pennsylvania's
hillsides, local roads, and streams. PA CleanWays has
also collected or removed 383,434 tires and 25,336 appliances.
More than 353 segments of local roads, parks/pathways,
and waterways have been adopted through the PA CleanWays
adoption
program. PA CleanWays has organized and
planted more than 22,000 trees on public lands through
its beautification
program. In total, more than 45,000 volunteers
have dedicated nearly 195,000 volunteer hours to PA CleanWays
programming. |
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Cleanups vary widely,
involving volunteers or equipment, or sometimes both.
Volunteer safety is the primary concern at every cleanup.
Safe cleanup strategies have been developed to address
the potential risks in removing broken glass, rusted
metal, furniture, vehicles, construction debris, and
tires from steep slopes and waterways. Equipment is
used when volunteers' welfare could be at risk and people
power alone is not enough.
PA CleanWays works with
people that want to clean their communities and natural
areas. We work primarily on public lands, from a site
along a municipal road to a greenway in a county park
to a site in a state forest, park, or game land. On
occasion, PA CleanWays does tackle private land sites
but only if the owner of the land is a victim of illegal
dumping.
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Why should you
care about dumping? Dumpsites pollute our soil, surface, and
groundwater supplies as well as the air we  breathe
if a site catches on fire. They attract disease spreading
rodents and are breeding grounds for mosquitoes that may carry
the West Nile Virus. Dumpsites are a potential source of physical
injury to people and can be lethal to wildlife. Dumpsites
are costly to clean, costs that are often shouldered by taxpayers.
As an example, in 2007 the Philadelphia Daily News reported
the city of Philadelphia spent $1.9 million cleaning up illegal
dumpsites the previous year. PA CleanWays has found that depending
on the contents of the dumpsite, it costs between $600 and
$1,000 per ton for clean up and removal.
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