York, PA – (December 7, 2011) – Keep York County Beautiful (KYCB) is seeking volunteers to help clean up an illegal dumpsite. The event will be held on Saturday, December 17, 2011 from 8AM to 3PM. The dump site spans Newberry Township and Goldsboro Borough at locations on Stillhouse Road and Railroad Street. This is the first cleanup event to be held by KYCB since its inception in June. Volunteers should meet at Stillhouse Road in Newberrry Township at 8AM.

All volunteers should dress for safety by wearing long pants/shirts and sturdy shoes. Youth volunteers aged 12-17 must complete a Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful Volunteer Waiver Form with signed parental consent prior to participating. Safety vests, gloves, garbage bags, lunch and refreshments will be provided. Interested volunteers may contact Thomas Smith at 717-840-2375 or email at tls35@psu.edu for more information.

 

This cleanup effort is being organized by Keep York County Beautiful. Cleanup funding and resources are being provided by Newberry Township, York County Commissioners, York County Solid Waste Authority, Penn State Extension-York County West Nile Virus Program and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. York County is home to 274 illegal dumpsites containing an estimated 263 tons of trash. Thirty-six of York County’s 72 municipalities have illegal dumping activity. Illegal dumpsites pose many threats to the health and safety of humans and wildlife, including giving mosquitoes a place to breed. West Nile Virus, carried by mosquitoes, has been a primary concern for environmental officials.

 

A goal of KYCB is to work with volunteer groups, municipalities, and community partners to get these sites cleaned and keep them clean. Keep York County Beautiful was established with the support of the York County Commissioners and Penn State Cooperative Extension - York County - West Nile Virus Program. Keep York County Beautiful is an affiliate member of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, a nonprofit organization based in Greensburg, Westmoreland County.

 

The organization’s mission is to empower Pennsylvanians to make our communities clean and beautiful. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful carries out their mission with the help of nineteen Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful affiliates and six Keep America Beautiful local affiliates across the state. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, along with their affiliates, have engaged more than 1,100,000 volunteers and nearly 15,000 communities in keeping Pennsylvania beautiful.

 

They have properly disposed of almost 80 million pounds of trash from our communities and cleaned more than 93,000 miles of roadways, streams, trails, and greenways.