Creek Sweep: Saturday's cleanup sees top turnout
Folks of all ages, backgrounds and abilities joined forces to remove 1,171 tires and three large dumpsters full of trash from the Connoquenessing Creek.
The Allegheny Aquatic Alliance's 9th annual Connoquenessing Creek Cleanup on Saturday saw crews enter the water in Jackson Township and many other accesses along the waterway pulling canoes, which they filled with garbage and debris pulled out of the creek.
The muddy workers then hauled the boats up to the next access downstream, where yet other crews loaded the tractor tires, metal tanks, bed frames and all manner of garbage onto trailers for disposal and recycling.
Mike Handley, president of the Allegheny Aquatic Alliance, said about 150 volunteers showed up at 8 a.m. at Living Faith Baptist Church just outside of Zelienople.The crews were treated to breakfast provided by the church before being split into teams and assigned to their tasks.Handley called the turnout “phenomenal.”“I think it's fantastic,” he said. “It's going to make for a lot easier work with more hands.”He said Sarver Landscaping of Wexford brought 21 men.One group that heaved trash and tires into their canoes was a U.S. Air Force recruiter and six recruits waiting for orders to ship out.Staff Sgt. Kyle Althoff said the recruits, who are based out of Pittsburgh, are training to start special warfare operations.He said he and the recruits were exercising at Graham Park in Cranberry Township when an Alliance official spied them and handed Althoff a business card.Althoff decided the cleanup was a good venue for the recruits to help out.“It gives them good volunteer experience,” Althoff said.The recruits wasted no time heaving heavy, mud-filled tanks and tires straight up the creek's steep banks with little effort.Elizabeth Godusky and five other members from the Society of Women Environmental Professionals also volunteered at the cleanup for the first time.Godusky said the group's community service committee comes up with a project each year, and the cleanup was a great fit.“We look to help preserve the area and keep it clean and do our part,” she said.Beth Speicher of Portersville grew up on the Connoquenessing Creek, which spurred her to earn a degree in environmental resource management from Penn State University.She worked for the state Department of Environmental Protection and as a sewage enforcement officer. Speicher was happy to attend her first cleanup Saturday due to her memories of playing in the creek.“I pretty much lived in it and it really aggravated me when I saw all the garbage growing up,” she said.Speicher is also a member of the Connoquenessing Watershed Alliance, which held cleanups beginning in 2000.“We did a few cleanups, but they were never this well attended,” she said. “It's just great that this group has this kind of turnout.”Laura Ebbert of Jackson Township owns Indian Brave Campground outside of Zelienople, where many floods over the years have floated items into the creek.“I feel it is my responsibility to go get the stuff back out,” Ebbert said of the debris that accidentally floods from her campground into the creek when the waters rise.She brought six friends and family members with her to the cleanup.“I think we all have to be responsible citizens of our communities,” Ebbert said. “Keeping the creek clean is important to everyone.”Johnathan Peffer, who is running against Aaron Bernstein for state representative in the 10th District, also participated in the cleanup.Peffer helped build the Allegheny Aquatic Alliance in Fombell, Beaver County, which is adjacent to his property.He was also thrilled with the turnout for the cleanup Saturday.“With COVID-19, you find more and more people seeking outdoor activities,” Peffer said.He also grew up playing in the “Connie” and appreciates all the effort Handley and the Alliance members have put into improving the waterway and providing canoe and kayak launches.“They really are some unsung heroes in the community,” Peffer said.Speicher summed up the thoughts of everyone who participated in the Connoquenessing Creek Cleanup on Saturday.“I wish people would quit throwing trash into the creek so we wouldn't need to do this,” she said.
