At the Dauphin County State of the County Address on April 9, Commissioner Mike Pries stated there are 137 illegal dump sites throughout the county—off of rural roads, down the side of Peter’s Mountain, on vacant lots in the city.
“Enough is enough,” said Pries.
Two weeks before, he had proclaimed a similar message when he spoke at the launch of the Clean and Green Harrisburg Coalition.
That day, he announced the formation of the Illegal Dumping Task Force, a seven-member group charged with collecting and reviewing information, and making suggestions on ways the county can combat this very serious issue. “We’re not messing around,” Pries proclaimed, explaining Dauphin County’s intention to be strict with fines and imprisonment. “You gotta hit them in the pockets. Lock ’em up. Because we’ve had enough, you’ve had enough and we’re going to do something about it.”
This unexpected announcement couldn’t have been a better bestowal for the kickoff event.
The problem of illegal dumping is what started the Clean and Green Harrisburg Coalition. In September of 2012, representatives from a variety of organizations and agencies came together in South Allison Hill, one of the worst illegal dumping locations in the county. This neighborhood in the city of Harrisburg has several sad and dangerous sites of garbage heaped about. The trash includes anything and everything that can be imagined—broken furniture and electronics, tires, rolls of carpet, construction waste such as chunks of plaster and ceramic tiles, bags of rubbish torn and strewn about by animals. In some cases, whole lots are filled this way where a house once stood. In other cases, it’s dumped in alleyways behind houses when no one was looking.
Chris Fegley, revitalization manager for Community Action Commission (CAC), pointed to the worst of the worst located a couple of blocks in any direction from CAC’s front door at 1514 Derry St. This is how the conversation started at that first meeting. For those around the table who lived outside of the city, it was unbelievable such sites existed. However, representatives of the Harrisburg’s Public Works Department confirmed it. So did both a city police officer and the single county enforcement officer. For anyone who was still incredulous, Fegley offered a tour. Those who took him up on it realized that seeing is believing.
Information and suggestions began to pour out of those who gathered every other week at CAC. Questions were posed and brainstorming began. Over the next few months, the group grew as more people came to the table. A deputy district attorney from the Dauphin County D.A.’s Office attended to answer questions and listen to concerns. Representatives from Keep America Beautiful and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful visited to discuss proven methods. Specific people were brought in as the talk moved from illegal dumping to non-compliance with sanitation ordinances to littering to individual responsibility to community engagement to schools and youth to best practices.
Before long, a structure was sketched and a three-pronged approach was adopted—Education, Empowerment and Enforcement. The idea is that any trash problem must be confronted with these three “E’s” at the same time. If one prong is removed, the structure wobbles and solutions won’t be effective or sustainable.
This attitude became the point of departure for the group as goals were laid out and tasks were assigned. What soon became apparent is that a coalition was forming. A quick headcount showed that about 30 different entities were now working together to deal with trash in Dauphin County and, specifically, in the city of Harrisburg.
With that the name came—Clean and Green Harrisburg Coalition.
The name brought a new objective to the table, one that naturally formed and emphasized the true purpose of the group. That purpose is to work together to overcome the great challenge at hand, which is ultimately to make the capital region cleaner and greener.
It’s not an easy mission and not one that can be tackled by one program, initiative or person. Collaboration is the key. Rather than work independently of each other, for the first time, the capital region and the city of Harrisburg have a coalition to exchange data and knowledge, to overlap projects, to support one another, to share resources and to each do our part to stop the piles of trash from growing.
Of course, programs, initiatives and people are integral to the mission, and that’s why Clean and Green Harrisburg Coalition gathered as many of these that could be found. Amongst them are Camp Curtin Community Neighbors United, The Harrisburg Authority, City Beautiful 2.0, The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, tree plantings, storm water management, rain barrels, Green Urban Initiative, Harrisburg Young Professionals, 2 Minute Tuesday Business Club, The Harrisburg Regional Chamber and CREDC, the Environmental Advisory Council, the city’s elected officials and the county’s newly formed task force on illegal dumping.
The issue of illegal dumping is how it all started. It’s why so many people and projects were brought together. The commissioner’s decision to honor the Clean and Green Harrisburg Coalition’s kickoff with such an important pronouncement is surely a good omen.
It’s indicative of the positive impact this coalition will have on the capital region.
Tara Leo Auchey is creator and editor of today’s the day Harrisburg at www.todaysthedayhbg.com.
