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For Immediate Release
June 5, 2007
Contact: Anna Gustafson
717-787-2637
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Rhoades Honors Young Volunteers
For Community Cleanup Efforts
HARRISBURG –Senator James J. Rhoades (R-29) honored area high
school students at a Capitol press conference today for completing cleanup
projects on illegal dumpsites in the district.
"Illegal dumpsites can pose serious health risks and are an
eyesore in our communities," Rhoades said. "These young people deserve special
recognition for their efforts to make their communities cleaner and safer."
The students volunteered their time to clean up projects in the
fall of 2006 and the spring of 2007 with the Clean up Our American Lands and
Streams (COALS) program. The COALS program is a partnership between
environmental groups and state, county and local governments to identify and
clean up illegal dumpsites and protect these sites from future pollution.
Rhoades was joined by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC),
the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and other
legislators for the inaugural COALS High School Initiative Program Check
Presentation Ceremony.
In 2005 and 2006, COALS cleaned up more than 50 sites with more
than 300 tons of municipal waste and almost 200 tons of tires, and volunteers
spent a combined total of more than 2,500 hours on the cleanup efforts.
COALS included several projects in Schuylkill County,
including:
- Mahanoy Area High School students helped to clean up 5.2
tons of trash and 6.15 tons of tires at the Buck Mountain Road dumpsite,
- Minersville High School Students contributed to 160 hours of
volunteer service to remove 91 tons of trash and 6.64 tons of tires from the
Gordon Mountain dumpsite,
- Tamaqua/Williams Valley/Schuylkill County Vo-Tech students
worked to properly dispose of almost 5 tons of trash and 6 tons of tires.
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