Beginning in mid–July, and ending in the final days of September, the DumpBusters crew took on a challenge and an opportunity that involved some new tasks and approaches. The program had the chance to work with funding from a Community Development Block Grant obtained for ACW through the efforts of Pittsburgh City Council member Corey O’Connor. Councilman O’Connor represents the 5th Council District, and he has been hoping for several years that ACW could do more dump site cleanup in Hazelwood, a neighborhood that was particularly hard-hit by the 1980’s decline in big steel.
ACW was fortunate to receive funds to perform several months of cleanup in a small part of the Hazelwood neighborhood. After assessment of neighborhood needs and with support from local groups and Corey’s office, DumpBusters elected to take on the most challenging part of the neighborhood west of 2nd Ave, and across the rail tracks.
The DumpBusters crew began by removing 7.15 tons of roadside dumping from three large debris piles at roadside on Lytle and Melanchton Sts. We then moved on to completely clean 1,258.86 feet of Chaplain Way to W. Elizabeth St. What was different for DumpBusters was the quantity and severity of the extreme roadside vegetation overgrowth. The work was not like weed cutting, it was like clearing virgin brush in a woods environment. The ACW dumptruck was filled many times with roadside debris and vegetation. We similarly cleared roadside dumping and vegetation from Blair and Courtland Sts., over 708.36 feet of roadside.
Something new for the team was the complete clearance of large vacant lots in the neighborhood. Each lot took multiple days and several processes. First, all dumped and littered debris was removed. Second, the dense vegetation was power cut with a brushcutter. Next, vegetation debris was raked off and taken to vegetation recycling with City of Pittsburgh Public Works. Another run through the lots was needed to remove any remaining dumped debris not formerly visible. Finally, the lot was lawnmower cut. The lots now are greening up with natural grass, and can be maintained easily with a lawnmower. DumpBusters had lots of positive interaction with neighbors over the months, and it is hard to say whether they are more astonished or thrilled to see improvements in their corner of the world on issues that are of very long standing.
DumpBusters totals for the project are: 96 volunteer hours, 10.89 tons or cubic yds vegetation removed, 21, 405 lbs of dumped debris.
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