HARRISBURG – When the COVID-19 restrictions began to be implemented in March, Bobby Hughes noticed that some people were using the quarantine period to get out of the house and pay a visit to some of the natural areas in the state.
But not everyone was venturing out to enjoy nature.
Hughes, who is the executive director of the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, based in Luzerne County, said once the pandemic struck, illegal dumping in many remote areas increased.
Hughes’ organization works to clean up abandoned mine lands and often times that includes removing illegal dump sites. But the activity isn’t limited to abandoned mine areas, as Hughes, who also serves as the eastern vice president for the PA Council of Trout Unlimited, has encountered piles of trash along pristine streams and throughout state forests.
“It’s rampant and it’s really picked up,” he said. “When the businesses that accepted donations closed, you started seeing things like clothes and toys start to appear. There’s also a lot of waste from home remodeling projects being dumped.”
While many of the dump sites that Hughes encountered were along roads inside remote, wooded areas, he also found waste deposited in or near several trout streams. At one location, Hughes found a pile of old boards with lead paint that had chipped away and was floating in a stream.
In other instances, the trash even impairs the flow of a stream.
“A pile of trash that’s dumped streamside, it does get washed down and hits a log and blocks up the stream,” Hughes said. “That trash blockage can continue to accumulate and get so bad it will impede the movement of wild trout.”
The increase in illegal dumping activity has been noticed by state agencies as well.
Terry Brady, deputy press secretary with the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, said at the onset of the virus pandemic several state forests, particularly in the northeast, were getting hit pretty hard by illegal dumpers.
Brady surmised that those individuals assumed that since DCNR offices were closed it meant the rangers weren’t working as well. Even though that wasn’t the case, the dumping activity still increased.
The Delaware State Forest in the Poconos and Pinchot State Forest experienced a significant increase in trash being dumped, Brady said, adding that littering increased in the Michaux State Forest as well.
Conversely, state forest lands in the northcentral was spared from a spike in illegal dumping, he added, because there aren’t many people in that region.
“It really coincides to areas close to high population centers,” Brady said. “We increased surveillance in those areas as the dumping was definitely worse for a while, especially in the northeast.”
Most of the material dumped consisted of tires, shingles and construction debris, and large televisions – items that are difficult to dispose of and equally as burdensome to clean up.
“It’s costly and it steers are rangers away from other tasks,” Brady said. “This is truckloads of heavy duty stuff that was being dumped in our state forests.”
Game lands in some areas of the state also witnessed a spike in dumping activity.
While agency staff in the southcentral region reported no noticeable increase in illegal dumping on game lands, that wasn’t the case in the southwest region.
According to Patrick Snickles, Information and Education Supervisor for the region, dumping cases increased during the spring due to people cleaning out their homes during the pandemic. Snickles didn’t believe the problem caused game wardens in the region to expend more time or resources on the matter than they do during other years.
Dumping cases on game lands in the northeast region increased slightly, and at least one incident was attributable to a local recycling center being closed during the pandemic, said I&E Supervisor Bill Williams. He added that general roadside littering increased as well.
Hughes said his staff at EPCAMR is ready to start organizing cleanups of the illegal dump sites as soon as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, he hopes there’s a silver lining as people will be anxious to visit natural areas during the summer.
“They’re going to be visiting these areas and they’ll notice the trash that’s been dumped. I hope it compels more people to help clean this places up and become more vigilant about protecting the woods and watersheds in their area,” Hughes said.
- This story originally appeared in PA Outdoor News
