Watershed Cleanup Day
Watershed
Cleanup Day 2011 will be held on April 23, 2011. To match up your volunteer group, organization, or
even your family with a cleanup site or to become a corporate sponsor of
Watershed Cleanup Day 2011,
please contact Chris Finton,
the 2011 Watershed Cleanup Day chair at (814) 234-0831 or
Brianna at 237-0400.
Each year, ClearWater participates in the world-wide recognition of Earth Day by organizing a Watershed Cleanup Day to eliminate illegal waste plaguing Centre County’s watersheds.
This
event was initiated in 1997 with the collection and disposal of 17 tons of
trash in the Spring Creek Watershed. Since our kick off year, we have
removed and properly disposed of 2,738 tons of trash from the Spring
Creek, Bald Eagle Creek, Beech Creek, Penns Creek, and Little Fishing Creek
Watersheds. Our partnership with local contractors allowed us to begin
attacking bigger sites, resulting in the removal of 2,445 tons of trash just
since 2005!
Volunteers collected 130 tons of trash on Watershed Cleanup Day 2010, which took place on April 17. The following week, the Centre County Solid Waste Authority partnered with ClearWater to finish cleanup at a sinkhole in Haines Township that had been on the Cleanup Day list since 2006. This massive sinkhole, thought to be one of Centre County’s largest, was an active dumpsite for over 50 years and contained over 950 tons of trash! Thanks to our wonderful partners, a terrible eyesore and health hazard has now been removed from Centre County’s landscape.
Despite
an unseasonably cold and rainy day, over 350 volunteers participated in
Watershed Cleanup Day 2010. Volunteers gather—rain or shine—to remove
harmful material from sinkholes, roadsides, illegal dumpsite, and stream
banks. Removing such material helps rid groundwater of dangerous
pollutants, strengthening the surrounding environment and reducing the need
for local governments to spend unnecessary tax dollars on cleanup that can
easily be taken care of by Centre County residents.
View the 2010 Thank You ad, 2009 Thank You ad, and 2008 Thank You ad from the Centre Daily Times to see a list of recent volunteer groups, sponsors, and donors.
A pile of trash is not an attractive sight, but trash can do worse than spoil the natural beauty of a place. Pollutants leaching from trash can enter your drinking water. Garbage can also cause injuries, harm wildlife, and its removal can use tax dollars that could be put to other uses. These are all excellent reasons to volunteer at our Watershed Cleanup Day, but as a volunteer you would also be able to enjoy the outdoors and be an active part of our community. This is a fun event that gathers together many individuals and organizations from all over the county. Young and old participate, and, afterward, we celebrate our hard work with a picnic in the natural beauty of Millbrook Marsh.
Consider
being part of Watershed Cleanup Day 2011. Help us surpass our record of 550
volunteers who answered our call in 2009 and help us rid the land and water
of Centre County of tons and tons of garbage. Enjoy the outdoors as you
help make them more beautiful!
Watershed Cleanup Day’s
success is due in large part to the people and organizations who donate
their time, equipment, and manpower year after year. One particularly
notable asset includes the Watershed Cleanup Day planning committee. This
volunteer committee comprised of representatives from ClearWater, local
businesses, conservation districts, watershed associations, solid waste
authorities, municipalities, and the general public begin meeting months in
advance to select sites, assign coordinators, solicit heavy equipment,
secure reduced disposal fees, and generate donations. Several members of
the planning
committee
have been involved since the project’s initiation, and this continuity
ensures the efficient use of time and resources. Thanks to the efforts of
the committee Watershed Cleanup Day has expanded from a few sites and
volunteers to over 50 sites and 350 volunteers in 2010.
As this event grows each year so does our need to secure donations to help host the event and cover tipping fees to pay for the disposal of the refuse collected by our volunteers. In the past, ClearWater has received financial support for this project from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Susquehanna River Basin Commission, Centre County Solid Waste Authority, Centre County Community Foundation, Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy, the MS4 Municipal Partners (College, Ferguson, Harris, and Patton Townships; State College Borough; and Penn State University), The Dansko Foundation, Patagonia, and several local municipalities and many local and national businesses, including Wal-Mart.
If you would like to make a corporate or individual contribution to support this essential community volunteer effort to protect our drinking water, please contact Brianna at (814) 237-0400.
Photos by Christopher Shannon, Rod Fye, and Mary Jo Miller.
Stories of Land, Water, & People: Sinkholes, and Dumpsites, and Trash... Oh My!