Jefferson County Residents Speak Out on Area’s Littering Problem

JEFFERSON CO., Pa. (EYT) – A recent Litter Research Study found that most Pennsylvanians see litter as an ongoing problem in our state, and Jefferson County is no exception to those findings.

The Pennsylvania Litter Research Study – organized in 2018-2019 with funding from PA DEP (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection); PennDOT (Pennsylvania Department of Transportation); Keep America Beautiful, and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful – conducted a phone survey collecting 500 residents’ views on litter and littering, while field teams performed on-the-ground litter counts in 180 locations statewide, including state and local roads and urban and rural areas.

The research found that over 96 percent of survey respondents said littering is a problem in Pennsylvania, and the field results indicate an estimated 500 million pieces of litter on Pennsylvania roads.

“Pennsylvania has a littering problem. Trash lines many of our roads and neighborhood streets. Hillsides and streambanks are strewn with tires and other garbage illegally dumped,” said DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell.

“This presents health hazards, it contaminates the soil and water, and cleaning it up is costly to the Commonwealth and taxpayers.

These problems aren’t isolated to more urban areas, either. Responses from local residents show our local region has its fair share of litter and dumping issues.

Christina Inzana and Amanda Reed emphasize that littering is absolutely a concern in Jefferson County.

“It is definitely a concern! The short stretch of 219 between DuBois and the light at Falls Creek Sheetz is awful, especially in the spring after the snow melts,” Inzana explained.

Reed added that “it is a major problem! Especially on highways just off the interstates. Just sick that people can do this when there’s trash cans and bags they can put the trash in.”

Tina Verdill and Sherri Burkett said “trash is everywhere.”

“It’s pathetic with litter in Mahaffey, Burnside, and along route 36. We walk our property line, in spring, to clean up litter. Always gather at least 10 or more Walmart bags, full of cans, glass, needles, paper products. It’s very disrespectful and ignorant. I honestly can’t name any town or area, within 100 miles of me, that is litter free,” Verdill said.

Burkett added that “there’s too much garbage everywhere to even mention places. Where I live, it’s the same exact spot with the same exact brands of food wrappers every week, so it’s the same person doing it.”

Dana Kramer stated that the amount of trash is ridiculous.

“Its everywhere. Every Spring our church does a clean up. Its ridiculous the amount of trash picked up around Knoxdale,” Kramer noted.

According to PennLive, details released at the recent 2019 Litter Summit in Harrisburg include counts tallying 259,467,023 individual pieces of litter, comprised of 37.1 percent cigarette butts, 30.4 percent plastics, 12.2 percent papers, 6.4 percent metals, 4.2 percent organics, 3.1 percent tire treads, and 1.1 percent glass.

The cigarette butts, in particular, were a noted modern, as Secretary McDonnel noted they carry all of the chemicals involved in their production, from pesticides and herbicides to arsenic.

“DEP has funded annual community and illegal dump site clean-ups around the state for over two decades. Thanks to these volunteer events, millions of pounds of litter have been removed from our land and water, but trash is accumulating faster than anyone can keep up with,” McDonnell stated in a recent release.

The results of the study paved the way for a new initiative to reduce littering issues in the state.

DEP, PennDOT, and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful plan to release a report presenting conclusions and complete data from the study and open discussion early in the new year. At that time the agencies will use the data to begin the task of strategizing a framework of measures to reduce specific littering behaviors.