A team by the name of the ‘Forbidden Drains’ from Professor Masha Kazempour’s BiSC3 (Environmental Science) class at Penn State Berks recently did their Environmental Awareness & Community Action Project (EACAP) on the topic of illegal waste dumping. Forbidden Drains chose this important topic for two main reasons. The first reason is that illegal dumping is something that affects everyone globally and is a topic which doesn’t get enough attention and has a general lack of awareness associated with it. The second reason is that everyone on the team wanted to do a project where an aspect of it would require part of it to be outdoors. Forbidden Drains also did their research topic as well as their physical EACAP portion on how illegal waste dumping affects everyone and the extent of it. With that in mind, the Forbidden Drains the main goal of the EACAP project was to not only bring awareness to a topic that needs it but also to effectively help bring awareness to the local community which Penn State Berks is directly a part of. The EACAP project spanned the entire spring semester but was an overall success when everything concluded.
As mentioned before, the Forbidden Drain’s research topic was on illegal waste dumping and included topics such as the history of dumping, some of the causes and types of pollution associated with it, and some possible solutions as well as what Pennsylvania is currently doing to actively combat illegal dumping. For the history of dumping, a key topic was the outbreak of Cholera during a time where dumping and hygiene were less important or as prominent as they are today and how, although better than that time era, we as a society need to continue spreading awareness of the dangers and side effects of illegal dumping. There were two main types of pollution mentioned in their research: point and non-point source pollution. These types of pollution are the two main types of pollution found when looking at illegal dumping. The main causes of illegal dumping the group found were waste disposal fees being higher than penalty fines for illegal dumping, general environmental issues, and a lack of awareness by parties involved in illegal dumping. Some solutions the group wanted to make aware to everyone was to wash cars and other vehicles in car washes or areas which the chemicals used aren’t draining into a storm drain/sewer, avoiding using fertilizer before a rainstorm, and properly cleaning up spills were some of the solutions mentioned. The Forbidden Drains also went on to explain that in January 2018, Governor Tom Wolf announced an investment of around $75 million for 13 projects across 11 counties with Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) which will directly contribute to the battle against illegal dumping. The Forbidden Drains gave us a better understanding and insight into the current problem with illegal dumping globally and in the Pennsylvania region.
The other large part of the EACAP project that Forbidden Drains did was to go to downtown Reading, PA and stencil the saying “Protect Your Water Drains to River” on many of the storm drains along 5th Street. That saying was also stenciled on the storm drains in Spanish to better serve the large Latin American population in the Reading area. This portion of the project was done alongside Michelle Hnath, the liaison that partnered with the City of Reading in order to make this part of the project possible. The main point of this outdoor community activity was to bring awareness to those lacking knowledge of where the material they dump in the storm drains goes and to explain that it is being directly connected from the storm drains to the river. This river is a source of drinking water for a large population in the are and it is used by many locals for water actives and enjoyment and many do not know that they may be affecting the water that they themselves use. During the process of putting these stencils on the storm drains, many locals came up to the Forbidden Drains asking what they were doing followed by a conversation of the importance of illegal dumping and explaining that these storm drains drain directly into the river. The effort was a great experience for the whole team and the objective of community outreach was successful.
The Forbidden Drains set out with the goal to spread awareness on illegal dumping as well as try to help the local community understand its importance, both of which the Forbidden Drains successfully did. Although only four people, this team from the Penn State Berks campus shows us that it doesn’t take many people to make an impact on a community and to further the progress of environmental awareness. If more people pitched in every day as this group did, our world as we know it would be becoming a much more sustainable environment and the current downfall of environmental issues would look much more promising.
