DEP and PennDOT Earn National Recognition from Keep American Beautiful for Statewide Campaign to Cleanup Pennsylvania

DEP and PennDOT Earn National Recognition from Keep American Beautiful for
Statewide Campaign to Cleanup Pennsylvania

2/5/2018-KING OF PRUSSIA

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP) have been honored with Keep America
Beautiful
(KAB) 2018 State Agency Partner Awards for their partnership on the Great
American Cleanup of Pennsylvania in 2017. The statewide campaign organized
over
132,000 volunteers who participated in over 7,200 local cleanup events in
every
county of the commonwealth.

"DEP has supported and participated in the annual Great American Cleanup of

Pennsylvania program since it began in 2004," said DEP Secretary Patrick
McDonnell. "It reflects two of our core values—improving the environment
and
fostering strong community partnerships—and it succeeds."

"We are very proud of the long-running success of our Adopt-A-Highway
program,"
said PennDOT Secretary Leslie Richards. "The efforts of our district
coordinators coupled with the enthusiasm of our volunteers results in tons
of
trash and debris being removed from our roadways year after year."

The Great American Cleanup of Pennsylvania is coordinated by KAB affiliate
Keep
Pennsylvania Beautiful with state agency support from DEP and PennDOT. Last

year the campaign brought thousands of Pennsylvanians together in the
spring to
collect millions of pounds of trash and plant trees, shrubs, and flowers.

In 2017, through PennDOT's Adopt-A-Highway program, agency district
coordinators partnered with over 4,800 volunteer groups adopting 10,733
miles,
collectively saving the commonwealth in excess of $5 million, allowing
scarce
commonwealth resources to be re-directed to areas needing critical
attention.

DEP funding covered the cost of supplies for the participating volunteers,
who
collected more than 5 million pounds of trash from an estimated 11,168
miles of
roads, railroad tracks, trails, waterways, and shorelines and planted
16,437
trees, bulbs, and plants in Pennsylvania.

DEP and PennDOT partner on statewide public outreach to raise public
awareness
of cleanup events. In addition, Secretary McDonnell participated in a
cleanup
event in Steelton Borough, and other DEP staff participated in events in
their
local areas.

"The Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of
Transportation have been invaluable partners to Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful

since its inception, providing resources that have enabled hundreds of
thousands of volunteers to participate in tens of thousands of community
improvement events," said Shannon Reiter, president of Keep Pennsylvania
Beautiful.

The Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association, the Pennsylvania Food
Merchants
Association, and numerous companies also support the communities' cleanup
projects.

Both agencies remind Pennsylvanians to do their part and not litter. Learn
more
about litter in the commonwealth.

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