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By PAMELA C. TURFA pamt@leader.net
Saturday, February 05, 2000     Page: 5A

WILKES-BARRE – Bill McDonnell calls them “midnight lowlifes” – residents
who dump trash, construction materials and broken appliances on undeveloped
land and in abandoned mine pits.
   
But, said McDonnell, regional director of the Department of Environmental
Protection, the Wyoming Valley is not the “Valley of the Slobs,” referring
to the title of a Friday morning forum.
    “We are a valley that has a handful of slobs in it.”
   
McDonnell was one of three presenters at the Greater Wyoming Valley
Leadership Forum at the Genetti Hotel & Convention Center. The forum was
attended by about 75 people. The other presenters were representatives of
Earth Conservancy and the Main Street Restoration project in Luzerne borough.
   
Instead of focusing on the “lowlifes,” the Wyoming Valley and
Northeastern Pennsylvania should focus on the pride some residents have in
their community, McDonnell suggested:
   
Luzerne and Lackawanna counties have a combined recycling rate of 52
percent – substantially ahead of the state goal of 35 percent by 2003.
   
One of the region’s largest employers, the Procter & Gamble plant in
Mehoopany, has received statewide recognition for its environmental efforts.
   
And, the region offers a quality of life, including entertainment venues,
not found in other similar-sized communities.
   
“It is clear that a significant portion of the population is recycling
every day,” McDonnell said.
   
But “it only takes a few lowlifes with a pickup truck” to create a
problem, he said.
   
Earth Conservancy Executive Director Mike Dziak had evidence of the problem
– a dozen slides documenting the littering on some of the 16,000 acres the
conservancy purchased from the bankrupt Blue Coal Corp.
   
Trash is strewn on the bottom and sides of the Avondale pit in Plymouth
Township. “You can find almost anything at the bottom of this pit.”
   
Appliances are piled at another site. And, construction debris litters a
third.
   
Earth Conservancy, which has reclaimed about 650 acres, has had some
success blocking areas from public access, policing its land and cleaning up
land during reclamation work.
   
Members of the audience, including state legislators and teachers,
suggested a grassroots effort to make illegally dumping unacceptable and to
make it easier for people to get rid of trash and appliances.
   

Call Turfa at 829-7177.