Home > News Bytes > DRBC Cares for Its Communities: Staff & TTF Team Up to Clean Tacony Creek Park
DRBC Cares for Its Communities: Staff & TTF Team Up to Clean Tacony Creek Park
The DRBC team poses with TTF's Julie Slavet (3rd from R) and with their bounty after a 
The DRBC team poses with TTF's Julie Slavet (3rd from R)
and with their bounty after a successful cleanup.
Photo by DRBC. 

While the main efforts of DRBC staff are focused on managing and protecting the shared interstate waters of the Delaware River Basin, they also care about helping out in our local communities.

Last week, DRBC staff joined the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership (TTF) to volunteer their time to clean up a section of Tacony Creek Park. The park features 300 acres of streamside and woodland habitat in lower Northeast Philadelphia. The section we focused on was near the intersection of Roosevelt Blvd. and Rorer Street.

Upon arrival, staff met with TTF Executive Director Julie Slavet, who provided instructions and welcoming remarks. Staff then fanned out to work on cleaning up trash, recyclables or other debris. In just a few hours time, over 22 bags of trash and recycling were collected!

Trash strewn along roadsides and sidewalks makes its way to our creeks, streams and rivers directly when it rains or through storm drains. This runoff does not go to treatment plants before entering our waterways, it does so directly, negatively impacting water quality and habitat.

This cleanup was socially distanced, and masks were required to be worn throughout the event.

We thank TTF for providing water, tools and supplies, as well as for their partnership!

Learn more about this organization at the above link. You can also learn more about Tacony Creek Park by visiting the Tacony Creek Park Keepers website at https://tcpkeepers.org/.
The team gets instructions from Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership's (TTF) Julie Slavet before heading out to pick up trash. Photo by DRBC.The team was working in a section of Tacony Creek Park in Northeast Philadelphia. Pictured here is the Tacony Creek. Photo by DRBC.DRBC Executive Director Steve Tambini comes prepared with trash grabbers for the team. Photo courtesy of TTF.DRBC's John Yagecic delves right in, tackling an area where trash easily accumulates on the hillside. Photo by DRBC.
(From L to R) DRBC's Peter Eschbach and David Kovach use a shopping cart they found to haul the rest of their bounty back to the collection site. Photo courtesy of TTF.DRBC's Stacey Mulholland collects trash from alongside Tacony Creek. Photo by DRBC.DRBC's Elaine Panuccio gets into the thick of it. Photo courtesy of TTF.DRBC's Deputy Executive Director Kristen Bowman Kavanagh shows that only we can conquer our trash problem. Photo courtesy of TTF.DRBC's Evan Kwityn and his pal Murph high-five a job well done! Photo courtesy of TTF.