This summer, PMSC AmeriCorps and Allegheny Cleanways(AC) began partnering to get things done to address illegal dumping in Allegheny County. The Pittsburgh based non-profit, “is dedicated to the mission of engaging and empowering people to manage litter and illegal dumping all throughout Allegheny County--both on the land and on the water,” explains Education Coordinator, Lauren Pearman. A University of Pittsburgh student, Lucas Nothnagle, is serving as AC’s first PMSC AmeriCorps member--bringing out the best of America as an Environmental Stewardship member initiating new programming to mitigate effects of illegal dumping and improve quality of life in Allegheny County.
Since 2022, Allegheny County’s Garden Club has provided funding to Allegheny Cleanways to initiate a new program: “The StepKeeper Cleanups.” According to recently published, “City Steps of Pittsburgh: A History & Guide” by Matt Jacob, Laura Zurowski, and Charles Succop, “In Pittsburgh, the elevation varies wildly, fluctuating 660 feet from highest to lowest point….making it one of the hilliest cities in the United States. Throughout this unruly and physically challenging landscape, the city's first mass transportation system was built - a steadily expanding network of public stairways, locally referred to as "city steps.” Pittsburgh has somewhere between 800-1200 public sets of staircases that were constructed in the early 1900s. And, as Lauren Pearman explains, “a lot of them are aging---a lot of them really need some stewardship and maintenance. So that's what we are slowly trying to do with our StepKeeper program.”
On Saturday, July 13th, a group of about 20 volunteers gathered at the base of the Chauncey Street Steps in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, as part of the StepKeeper initiative. Allegheny Cleanways provided cleanup coordinators, gloves, trash bags and cans, pickers, and one of their signature bright orange dumpsters that can be found at many of their cleanup events. Together, the volunteers and staff collected over 300 pounds of illegal waste from the Chauncey Street Steps on Saturday morning. And, PMSC’s Nothnagle started a new initiative this summer, investing some of his time and energy into separating out scrap metal that is collected on the clean-ups. Lucas explained that the metal can be recycled, “keeping it out of the landfill and creating less waste--which is directly connected to making Allegheny County a healthier and safer place to live.”
After the removal of illegal waste from the Chauncey Street Steps, the second phase, reports, Pearman, “is that a partner organization called Land Force is going to be removing Japanese knotweed-- which is a massive invasive species in this area.... they will remove the knotweed and then replant native tree species.” Each spring and summer, the stairs are covered in a canopy of knotweed. Pearman notes, “It will drown out any native species that would be here otherwise... the knotweed will also make it very difficult to use the stairs and make it really uninviting.” With the litter and invasive species removed after the step cleanups, Allegheny Cleanways will then engage a Community Steward to serve for the long-term-- “to continue cutting back overgrowth and to manage any litter accumulation that happens on a monthly basis.”
Addressing illegal dumping, reintroducing native species for ecosystem health, making walkways accessible and safe for community members-- PMSC AmeriCorps and Allegheny Cleanways are getting things done for America: one step at a time.
Volunteers cleanup litter from the Chauncey Street Steps in Pittsburgh’s Hill District-- one of the city’s public staircases built in the early 1900s as part of the city’s first mass transportation system
PMSC AmerICorps member Lucas Nothnagle, separating scrap metal from the hundreds of pounds of litter collected from the Chauncey Street steps as part of Allegheny Cleanways, “Stepkeeper” initiative.