Phila. tops in statewide cleanup effort

Volunteers in Philadelphia picked up more than 3.7 million pounds of trash during the Great American Cleanup of PA, officials announced today.

More than 59,000 city volunteers took part in the cleanup, which ran from March 1 to May 31, said PennDOT Secretary Allen D. Biehler.

Statewide, volunteers gathered 12 million pounds of trash and garbage along nearly 20,000 miles of roads, trails, railroad tracks, and shorelines. Additionally, volunteers planted 21,600 trees, bulbs and plants - and more than 80 percent of them were planted in Philadelphia, Biehler said.

In Bucks County, 9,700 people helped to pick up 367,000 pounds of trash; in Delaware County, 4,300 volunteers gathered 86,000 pounds; in Montgomery County 10,000 participants picked up 400,000 pounds, Biehler said.