PA CleanWays Awarded
$300,000 Grant From Richard King Mellon Foundation in
Support For a Statewide Illegal Dump Survey and Cleanup
Campaign
Greensburg, PA - May 22,
2007 - PA CleanWays, Inc. has recently accepted a generous
grant award of $300,000 from the Richard King Mellon Foundation
in support of its Statewide Illegal Dump Survey and Cleanup
Campaign. These funds will be earmarked for western Pennsylvania.
"We can't thank the trustees enough for their support
of this very important initiative. Our grassroots network
of volunteer chapters and affiliates have been actively
engaged in cleanup and abatement of illegal dumping for
nearly two decades. The Richard King Mellon Foundation's
support of this initiative is a tribute to each and every
PA CleanWays volunteer and their commitment to our shared
mission," explains Shannon Reiter, President of PA
CleanWays.
PA CleanWays' mission is empowering people to eliminate
illegal dumping and littering in Pennsylvania. Since 1990,
the PA CleanWays growing grassroots network has completed
nearly 700 illegal dump cleanups, more than 500 special
collection events for hard-to-dispose of items, and properly
disposed of more than 9,000 tons of trash, 1,300 tons
of scrap metal, and more than 320,000 tires from Pennsylvania's
landscape. PA CleanWays has engaged more than 31,000 volunteers
in more than 148,000 volunteer hours. Additionally, PA
CleanWays has raised nearly $1,100,000 million dollars
in in-kind support for its program.
"In an effort to develop a comprehensive and strategic
plan for cleanup and abatement of illegal dumping in Pennsylvania,
PA CleanWays recognized the need for a statewide illegal
dump survey to document the extent of the problem,"
explains Reiter. Each county-based survey includes not
only detailed characteristics of individual dumpsites,
but also GIS maps of the sites by municipality, population
density, and watershed.
PA CleanWays has received strong support from Pennsylvania's
Department of Environmental Protection for the Illegal
Dump Survey program. This support has enabled PA CleanWays
to build and strengthen additional support from the private
sector.
PA CleanWays has completed 14 county-based surveys and
identified 1675 illegal dumpsites. Of those, 775 were
in or within 100 feet of water. Some counties had as many
as 217 illegal dumpsites. In just the 14 counties completed
thus far, there is an estimated 7741 tons of illegally
discarded waste. Illegal dump surveys are available on-line
at http://www.pacleanways.org/IDS/ids_index.html.
"It is our goal" explains Jim Bendel, Board
Chair of PA CleanWays, "that these surveys will not
only provide PA CleanWays, grassroots organizations, conservation
districts, and watershed groups the information needed
to plan for cleanup and abatement of these sites, but
also provide local, county, and state government officials
the hard data needed to develop appropriate abatement
strategies and gain additional support for existing and
new programs for proper handling of waste."
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PA CleanWays is a nonprofit
organization that helps people who are ready to take action
against illegal dumping and littering in their communities.
Since 1990, PA CleanWays has been dedicated to empowering
people to resolve and prevent these destructive problems.
For more information about PA CleanWays and its programs,
visit www.pacleanways.org.
