November 17, 2002
Tribune-Reivew
Laurel Highlands students clean up stream
By Jerry Storey
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
While teenagers aren't known for cleaning up their own rooms, a group from Laurel Highlands High School tackled something far messier last week: Rankin Run, a tributary of Redstone Creek.
High school science teacher Kelly Kruper and the members of her ecology club picked up trash on the banks of the stream along Vance's Mill Road in North Union
Courtesy of Bruce Golden
Township. Kruper has enlisted the help of her students to clean up Redstone Creek and its tributaries before. "This is our fifth time," she said.
"They're amazing," Kruper said of her students. "They get up early on Saturday, work their tails off, and they absolutely love it."
The cleanup crew this day consisted of 18 teens and six adults.
"Three students brought their parents," Kruper noted. Sisters Katie and Laura Ashton, both students at the high school, brought along their cousin, Samantha Kessler, from Bethel Park.
Student D.J. John is a veteran of Kruper's cleanups. "I'm a hunter," he said. "I feel I have a responsibility in making the environment better."
Kruper is on the board of directors of the Greater Redstone Clearwater Initiative, a coalition of area officials, environmental agency representatives, and concerned residents, working to clean up Redstone Creek and its tributaries. The watershed, which runs through much of Fayette County, is polluted from sewage and mine drainage.
Thoughtless individuals have added to the degradation by illegally dumping garbage along the banks of the creek and its tributaries.
Kruper figures the volunteer cleanups are chipping away at the problem and that her students are setting an example for adults.
John Piwowar, the president of the Clearwater Initiative, pitched in to help in the cleanup last week. He acknowledged that the progress made that day may be small compared to the size of the task remaining throughout the watershed. But, he said, "This is the way we do things, one step at a time."
Last week, Kruper's student crew deposited several tons of trash along the side of the road for transport. The teens worked so fast that they ran out of garbage bags two hours into a planned four-hour cleanup.
The North Union Township supervisors agreed to haul away the trash to a legal dump. Township workers would have no trouble finding the pickup point along the side of the road since the mound had grown to the size of a temporary landmark.
The students marveled at the amount of furniture, mattresses, appliances and miscellaneous garbage dumped at the site.
"We found a house," said Katie Ashton.
"With a garage," Seth McElroy added, pointing out that a car could almost be assembled from the tires and assorted auto parts discarded along the bank.
Katie Ashton was intrigued by large sheets of what appeared to be multicolored glass — the remnants of windshields with their laminated plastic. "They're kind of pretty in a strange way," she said.
Kruper's friend, Susan Wilson, also came to the cleanup with her two sons, Ian Rodgers, 10, and Aaron Rodgers, 5. Wilson teaches art at Laurel Highlands Junior High School and Kruper joked that her friend complained that "this definitely isn't my color," as she picked up the trash.
Wilson has a firsthand understanding of the importance of cleaning waterways. "I paddle," she said. "I'm a kayaker."
Although she acknowledged that Rankin Run isn't suited to kayaking, she said pollution in the stream adds to the degradation of larger waterways. "It's definitely a trickle effect," she said.
Aaron Rodgers, 5, decked out in little rubber boots, helped in the effort. Wilson said her son couldn't understand why people dumped the trash in the stream.
Laura Ashton said the cleanup was "very gratifying," but "sad."
There's some hope for the area staying free of debris. Most of the trash collected last week appeared to have been at the site for some time, according to Piwowar, predating mandatory trash collection enacted in the township two years ago.
Other Laurel Highlands students taking part in the cleanup included Jeff Palencik, Matthew Kusniar, Bruce Burish, Robert Sloan, Amanda Hardison, Michelle Haragos, Justin Misiak, Michael Bowman, Clarence Brangard and Staci Campbell. Parents Susan Palencik, David McElroy and Rammi Brangard took part. Bethany Sanner, a freshman at the University of Pittsburgh, pitched in. In addition to Piwowar, Clearwater Initiative board members Bruce Golden and Dave Leone also took part.
Kruper encourages residents of all ages to get involved in the Greater Redstone Clearwater Initiative. The group meets 7 p.m. the first Wednesday of each month at the accounting offices of Rich Kainia on Mt. Vernon Avenue in Uniontown.
