NEWSLETTER
www.jbgreenteam.org
September 2014 Issue
FREE PAINT COLLECTIONS SET!!!!
The JB Green Team, in collaboration with Universal Recycled Paint of Columbus, Ohio, will be
having free LATEX Paint Collections at the following locations:
Saturday, September 27, 2014, Ohio Valley Mall parking lot (near Sears) from 9
am – 3 pm
Tuesday, September 30, 2014, Fort Steuben Mall parking lot (near Sears) 9 am
– 3 pm
Old latex paint will be collected and reused to create new paint by the company. This event is
for latex paint ONLY. Please NO other paint products. No other items will be collected at this
event. Please contact the JB Green Team at 740-266-6899 in Jefferson County or at 740-2965376 in Belmont County if you have any questions.
ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT HAS BEGUN IN JEFFERSON COUNTY
Jefferson County proudly announces the beginning of a Litter Enforcement Program to clean up
illegal dumps and help stop littering. Jefferson County Sheriff’s Deputy Brad Polaski is hot on
the trail on every county/township road investigating trash and garbage left there. Littering,
including cigarette litter, is illegal and unsightly. Every citizen has the duty and responsibility
not to litter and to report anyone they witness dumping.
All township trustees have identified illegal dumps in their township and with the help of the
Sheriff’s Dept, JB Green Team, and Grants, we will be able to work together to clean up our
County. The JB Green Team has purchased a truck, cameras and miscellaneous tools to help
the clean ups. The Deputy is finding dumps as he travels the roads, accepting calls from
concerned citizens, placing camera and issuing citations to offenders. The accused then go to
court and the judge determines, if warranted, a fine and time/ method allotted for clean up.
Dumps include, but not limited to refrigerators, mattresses, tires, furniture, TVs, children’s toys
and abandoned cars. These items then become a nesting place for rodents and snakes, which
make them a health hazard to all residents. Jefferson County Health Department has been
involved in health and safety cleanups for many years. The new Deputy and the JB Green
Team look forward to joining efforts with the Jefferson County Health Department in improving
this illegal dumping problem in our community.
Since most dumping is done over a hillside, expensive equipment is used to haul the heavy
trash up the bank. Dump trucks and pickup trucks are used at the top to haul the litter to a roll
off or landfill, if it is not recyclable. JB Green is applying for grants to help offset the cost. The
Deputy, our employees and community service worker are scheduled to supply the labor, along
with the property owner and litterer, as the Judge determines. Anyone interested in helping, in
any way or reporting any occurrences of dumping, please contact Deputy Polaski at 740-2838600.
25th YEAR FOR OHIO RIVER SWEEP
The Annual River Sweep is an annual riverbank cleanup event of the river and its tributaries.
The Sweep is organized by the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO) an
interstate water pollution agency for the Ohio River Valley, along with environmental
protection and natural resource agencies from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia,
and Pennsylvania. The JB Green Team organizes and hosts sites in its two Counties each year.
Saturday, June 21, 2014 marked the 25th year for the Ohio River Sweep. Throughout the years
this nationally recognized event has grown into one of the largest cleanup efforts of its kind;
encompassing 3,000 miles of shoreline from Pittsburgh, PA to Cairo, IL. Improved water quality
has increased recreational use of the Ohio River and its shoreline which can also create more
litter on the river banks, making a yearly cleanup vital.
ALONG THE RIVER IN JEFFERSON COUNTY…
A total of 300 volunteers from 4-H Troop’s, Arcelor/Mittal Corporation employees, Brownie
Troop’s Girl/Boy Scouts, Wal-Mart management and employees, Yellow Creek Watershed
members, Urban Mission and Jefferson County Soil & Water employees showed up at the three
(3) sites in Jefferson County this year. Tires, mattresses, pool liners, TV’s, roofing material and
a hot tub cover was among the litter cleaned from the river banks and roadsides.
Some cleanup volunteers have been showing up year after year, a grandmother that now brings
her 6 year old granddaughter shows up rain or shine. Her and the granddaughter, in training,
eagerly pick up trash and recycle, and then have their snack and go home, saying “See you next
year!”
An older gentlemen and his dog come religiously
to the Annual River Sweep. This year, in the
pouring rain, another devoted worker, Pat West
said, “you know the old man and his dog didn’t
show this year.” Just then an old pickup truck
with a dog hanging out the window came noisily
down the Marina. It was 17 year old Sparky, all
gray and bad hind quarters slowly making his
way to the shelter house with a different elderly
man. We ask were Sparky’s usual “Dad” was and
this man said that he had had a stroke but didn’t
want Sparky to break his record of coming every
year to River Sweep. We sent Sparky’s owner
home a t-shirt and put one on Sparky.
All our River Sweep volunteers received a free TShirt, and refreshments donated by Wal-Mart
donated. And some volunteers didn’t stop at
cleaning up, they took time to plant flowers at
the Steubenville Marina! A special thanks to our
sponsors including First Energy (Sammis Plant) who donated trash bags, gloves, vests, first aid
kits and safety glasses.
ALONG THE RIVER IN BELMONT COUNTY ORGANIZATIONS CAME TOGETHER…
The JB Green Team worked with the Belmont County Soil and Water Conservation District to
clean areas along the Pike Island Lock and Dam. The rain didn’t dampen the spirits of those
participating. Approximately 250 pounds of trash was properly disposed and 35 pounds of
recycling was collected.
After the area was cleaned,
volunteers were rewarded with
drinks and snacks provided by St.
Clairsville Walmart. Volunteers
came from environmental
organizations, civic groups,
recreational clubs, scout troops,
local businesses, and the general
public. More than 20,000 tons of
trash and other debris from the
banks of the Ohio River and
tributaries are collected during this event.
COMMUNITY CLEANUPS AND TIRE COLLECTIONS HELD
Community Cleanups and Tire Collections took on a new perception this year. Due to budget
restrains of the JB Green Team only 2 tire collections occurred and 8 community cleanups in
Jefferson County. When the budget was presented to the Township Trustees the decision was
made to cut back the number of sites for collections. JB Green offered 40 roll off containers (all
of which were used) and 4 sites for tires. Only Cross Creek and Toronto volunteered for Tire
Collections. Steubenville had their own tire collection which was funded by a grant but manned
by JB Green. The Township Trustees organized, advertised and worked their own cleanups,
resulting in 202 Tons of trash being hauled away.
These cleanups are very important to the county, as they encourage residents to dispose of
their trash in the proper manner and not over a hill, thus creating an illegal dump.
COMMUNITY SERVICE
The Jefferson County JB Green Team Community Service Supervisor, Mark Bigler, has been very
busy with his community service workers. The pictures show two locations, one at the marina
and one at Costonia. As you can see large items are dumped but also very small pieces of paper
and garbage are also thrown on the ground. Some trash was thrown on the highway (Rt7),
which during the winter blew over the hillside into the Marina. The Costonia site had the
picture with the window and larger items, although up to 36 garbage bags of trash was
collected too.
During their days work, these gentlemen
encounter snakes, bees and other rodents
and bugs. They wear safety vests and
gloves to protect themselves from all the
elements. This is Mark’s second summer
with the Green Team and does a great job
of organizing the workers and executing the
projects. The workers are assigned through
the Jefferson County Court System and also
Eastern Ohio Correctional Center.
Litter is everywhere and most of the on and off ramps to the highways are prime targets. JB
Green Team tries to cleanup these most prominent spots on a regular basis while at the same
time maintaining our own Recycle Sites and individual calls.
SPECIAL ELECTRONICS COLLECTION HELD
Due to budget restraints the JB Green Team ended its weekly Electronics Collections. With the
countless calls and inquiries from residents in need of a way to recycle or dispose of their
electronics and TV’s, the JB Green Team held a Special Electronics Collection on September 9 th,
2014. This Special Collection for the residents of Jefferson and Belmont County’s only accepted
approximately 1 ton of electronics free of charge for E-cycling. And also accepted 3 tons of the
older CRT (tube) TV’s and computer monitors, with a disposal fee per item because many of our
residents no longer have a local option for disposing of them now that some landfill regulations
have changed.
We hope to have another collection sometime within the next four or five months, when and
where they would be held is yet to be determined, but you can check our Upcoming Events
website page periodically or “like us” on Facebook to keep informed of all of our upcoming
activities.
Articles by different staff members of the JB Green Team