LETTER: Local nonprofit takes aim at litter, illegal dumping
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - Trash is strewn about near Fetter Pond on Route 924 in Union Township, seen on April 21, 2026.
If you see an illegal dumpsite or roadside litter in Northeast Pennsylvania, the sight is probably enough to make you want to scream, or cry.
Discarded vehicle tires. Construction debris. Old mattresses and other household junk. Ugh!
Getting rid of the messes – whether strewn on a grassy stream bank or across abandoned mine lands – should be a high priority, because the debris can lead to many problems, including water and soil contamination, diseases that harm people, even environmental catastrophes. Illegal dumping, for example, has been blamed for sparking or contributing to certain underground coal mine fires.
That’s why the nonprofit organization where I serve as executive director gets so involved in organizing cleanups and advocating for changes not only in attitudes and behaviors but also to state laws.
For 30 years, the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR) near Wilkes-Barre has consistently teamed with project partners and volunteers in the region’s coal communities to improve landscapes and lives. This year is no different.
During April – recognized as Earth Month – EPCAMR was especially active in bringing increased attention to illegal dumping and its harms. Here’s a bit of what our nonprofit did.
EPCAMR organized a community forum titled “Illegal Dumping: Let’s Talk Trash and Tires,” featuring guest speakers from dozens of organizations including Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, the Columbia-Montour Visitors Bureau and the North Branch Land Trust. The event on April 11 at Luzerne County Community College allowed for a great exchange of information about illegal dumping enforcement and prevention initiatives.
EPCAMR and its partners scheduled several trash cleanups, the first of which was held on April 18 along Tomhicken Road in Black Creek Township. About 35 helpers successfully removed an estimated 175 bags of garbage (or approximately 4.3 tons) and 60 vehicle tires from the watershed. Additional cleanups are planned later this year in Hanover Township, Ashley, Pittston and possibly other communities. Volunteers are welcome. For details on upcoming events, watch EPCAMR’s Facebook page.
During April, EPCAMR officially became an affiliate of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful – the state’s top anti-littering organization. Our nonprofit has long been a supporter of this program, promoting its activities and helpful resources as well as reporting the results of our cleanups (such as the number of vehicle tires collected and pounds of other trash removed) for its database. Our new status as an affiliate will strengthen that relationship and increase EPCAMR’s ability to support cleanup activities in these four counties: Carbon, Columbia, Northumberland and Sullivan.
EPCAMR will continue to collaborate with Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s other affiliates across the region, including the Pennsylvania Environmental Council’s regional office in Luzerne County, to hold cleanup events and spruce up public spaces.
To be clear, EPCAMR was not established as a nonprofit for the purpose of organizing and conducting litter cleanups. Instead, EPCAMR was founded to promote the reclamation of the region’s abandoned mine lands and to prevent the polluted water that pours out of old coal mines from spoiling our creeks and rivers.
However, our EPCAMR employees often discover while performing their clean-water projects in the field that abandoned mine lands and sensitive watershed areas are being abused by dumpers. So, our organization takes on the additional responsibility of combating litter.
We rely on financial support to pay for related costs such as trash receptacle rentals and tire recycling fees. The Amazon Northeastern Pennsylvania Community Fund and the Greenlight Project are two grant-making entities that recently provided funding to support some of our 2026 cleanup projects.
Businesses and individuals like you can help to expand EPCAMR’s cleanup efforts by donating items such as bottled water, pizza and snacks to fuel our event volunteers. Or send a financial contribution.
Collectively, we can rid our local landscapes of illegal dumps and other eyesores that detract from the natural beauty of Northeast Pennsylvania’s forests, fields and streamsides.
Robert “Bobby” Hughes is executive director of the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR), based in Ashley. The nonprofit organization serves 16 counties, promoting the reclamation and reuse of land impacted by past coal mining practices. Email him at [email protected].
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