Raccoon Creek Watershed Cleanups

Background

Becky Dunbaugh, Mike Whitfield and Barb Rupert fight mud and mosquitoes to haul fugitive tires out of Polecat Hollow's jungle-like vegetation. Polecat was the first site in Greene Township to be reclaimed by the Raccoon Creek Watershed cleanup partners.

In 1999, an informal coalition of volunteer groups and government bodies agreed to do something about illegal garbage and tire dumps in the valleys of the Raccoon Creek Watershed. The dumps were eyesores, gave a bad impression to visitors and residents of the various communities, and were magnets for more illegal dumping.

The cleanup partners - composed of the Townships of Greene, Potter and Raccoon, the Raccoon Creek Watershed Association, PA CleanWays of Beaver County, Beaver County Department of Waste Management, and the Independence Marsh Foundation (now Independence Conservancy)

identified and prioritized several highly visible dumpsites located along public roads. Many targeted sites contained a share of the over 100,000 tires which had been collected from tire shops and illegally dumped into remote areas of the Raccoon Creek Watershed in the late 1980's and early 1990's.

One cleanup campaign has been conducted in Potter Township on Pleasant Drive; another on Moffet Mill Road in Raccoon Township; one in Raccoon Creek State Park; and another in Smith Township near Burgettstown.

Pole Cat Hollow Cleanup

Becky Dunbaugh, Hubie Miller and John Davidson pause in front of hundreds of tires they had pulled up from Polecat Hollow in one hard day's work.

The Pole Cat Hollow Cleanup has been the largest to date in a series of illegal tire and rubbish dump cleanups conducted in or near the Raccoon Creek Watershed by the informal partnership. Over six thousand fugitive tires were removed and properly disposed from this site alone.

The Pole Cat Hollow illegal dump cleanup enhanced abandoned mine reclamation efforts farther downstream at the former Pegg's Run Coal Company. Over $200,000 in Growing Greener grant funds were well spent toward restoring the Pegg's Run Watershed, a part of the greater 20-D Raccoon Creek Sub-basin.

Kennedy Hill Cleanup

The partnership's most recent cleanup site is Kennedy Hill in Greene Township. It contained over 3000 fugitive tires and 175 tons of household refuse. Corporate grants paid to remove all of the tires and much of the trash, which is spoiling an otherwise beautiful oak and maple forest. Restoration began in 2006, but funding was exhausted by the end of 2007. Several tons of rubbish and small debris remain.

Betsy Woodling, Barb Rupert, and Peg Schweinsberg take a break from shearing tractor trailer tires in 95 degree heat.		Peg Schweinsberg runs the tire shear while Barb Rupert and Betsy Woodling pack the roll-off with cut tire pieces.
Workers feed three hundred feet of cable over the edge of Kennedy Hill to bring up the last of the truck tires.		The first big blizzard of the winter of '07-'08 didn't stop the cleanup crew at Kennedy Hill.
BEFORE A river of trash and tires flows through an otherwise beautiful valley along Kennedy Hill Road in Greene Township.		AFTER All of the tires are gone, and so is most of the large trash, but lots of small debris remains to be cleaned up should funds become available.

Results to Date

The various Raccoon Creek Cleanups have thus far:

• Removed 22,000 fugitive tires;
• Removed 300 tons of illegally dumped residential garbage;
• Re-vegetated the former dumpsites with native plant species to enhance wildlife habitat and scenic beauty;
• Improved water quality in the Raccoon Creek Watershed by eliminating seepage from these dumps;
• Reduced

  Becky Dunbaugh packs frozen tire pieces into a roll-off container as Carol Frederick cuts them and Al Moran runs the tire shear on a sub-zero morning at Polecat Hollow.

  likelihood of West Nile Virus by removing mosquito-breeding habitat;
• Improved property values and quality of life for neighborhood residents by eliminating fire, safety and health hazards;
• Provided volunteer opportunities for local residents to participate in the cleanups, to monitor the sites after completion, and to deter future dumping.

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This is only a small part of a huge illegal trash and tire dump that polluted the hill- sides along Moffet Mill Road in Raccoon Creek Township for decades. Volunteers removed over 1500 tires and 75 tons of trash from this scenic tributary to Raccoon Creek.

After thirteen months of dedicated volunteer efforts, the same valley along Moffet Mill Road looks more like Mother Nature intended.