An effort to clean up litter around Monongahela accidentally turned a town park into a dump, as people dropped off much more than organizers intended.
The Washington County city had originally advertised a "district CLEAN UP project" April 27-29, with PennDOT providing trash bags, reflective vests and gloves at City Hall so volunteers could pick up litter around their neighborhoods. Full trash bags were to be stacked for pickup at a total of nine locations, including Chess Park.
But bags and garbage at Chess Park quickly stacked higher and higher, as people started dropping off televisions, computer monitors, old tires and other items there.
Miscommunication in Monongahela!! What was supposed to be a roadside trash pickup day has turned into a pile of tires and TV's-- right beside a war memorial. A live report tonight at 11 on Channel 11. pic.twitter.com/rcqfe5XuCy
— Lori Houy (@WPXI_Lori) May 1, 2018
The city had to tape off the area and post signs to discourage further dumping. The trash pile grew so high that it obscured a World War II memorial.
This program has ended! Please do not place any more trash out for this pick up. Please check with Big's if you still have items to dispose of. https://t.co/KyjWODVQDD
— City of Monongahela (@MonCityPA) April 30, 2018
State Rep. Bud Cook, R-Bentleyville, told Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV that the cleanup he helped organize had gotten out of hand when people took it as an invitation to dump.
"Somehow this took on a life of its own and people were emptying out their garages and everything else," he told the TV station.
Reached on his way back to the district from Harrisburg Wednesday, Cook said he thought PennDOT was handling the cleanup — and they appeared to have picked up the litter bags from the other dropoff points — but the problem arose with the tires and electronics.
He noted that he did a similar cleanup in Monongahela the year before without incident, and one in Donora two weeks ago that didn't attract any illegal dumping.
"Last year we had absolutely zero problems," he said.
City Councilwoman Claudia Williams said people appeared to have started dumping the tires and televisions Sunday night, and although the city had listed other collection sites, the park seemed to attract all the dumping.
State Sen. Camera Bartolotta and former District Attorney Steve Toprani, who is running for the Democratic Party's nomination and the chance to seek Cook's seat in the upcoming elections helped coordinate the cleanup.
"I think Chess Park was targeted because of its easy access and visibility," Williams said. "There's no investigation to my knowledge, but there (are) a lot of great local residents helping with the clean-up effort."
Cook issued a statement Wednesday thanking volunteers who sorted and organized the trash on Tuesday so contractors could begin cleaning it up. Big's Sanitation of Rostraver was called in to start hauling away the garbage from the park.
"My staff will continue to reach out to PennDOT, local leadership and others for assistance in this effort and to improve communications moving forward," Cook said in his statement. "Once we get the trash cleaned up, we should move to the next step to review how this happened, avoid a reoccurrence and discuss other potential opportunities to continue to improve our communities."
Efforts to remove the trash started Tuesday night but ended up stretching into Wednesday because of the sheer volume.
Note: This story has been updated to correct the attribution of a quote by Councilwoman Williams.
Matthew Santoni is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724 836 6660, msantoni@tribweb.com or on Twitter @msantoni.
