‘Like the Wild West’: Spike in dumping at Agan Park prompts Springdale to pursue stricter rules
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Springdale is cracking down on dumping at Agan Park.
Council on Tuesday directed the borough’s interim manager, Jason Dailey, to develop a no dumping policy at the Springdale Township park. They also directed him to distribute that policy to borough staff and the Agan Park representatives.
Agan Park is located along Riddle Run Road in Springdale Township but is jointly managed by Springdale and Cheswick boroughs.
“It seems people are using it as a dumping ground,” Springdale Councilwoman Toni Robbins said. “We are drafting a policy to prohibit people from dumping and making them accountable for it.”
She said people usually dump items at the bottom of the park, but now there are more incidents of people discarding things at the top of the park. Some of those items include what Robbins called “blue industrial drums,” roughly 50 light bulbs, papers and other junk.
Kevin Wilhelm, Springdale’s fire chief, told council they could look at a number listed on the industrial drums to try to link it back to its owner.
The dumping situation at Agan Park is the worst it’s ever been, Robbins said, and has led officials to lock the gate to the park during the offseason, which runs from now until early spring.
There also have been reported burns at the park, Councilman Joe Kern said.
“It’s like the Wild West up there,” Kern said.
Allegheny Valley Regional Police have opened one or two cases in response to the dumping, Robbins said.
In response to questions from other council members, Robbins said the proposed policy wouldn’t target borough employees who dump things such as dirt at the park, but rather people who have been dumping things they shouldn’t.
She said a policy likely wouldn’t be in place until 2025.
“We can take our time and work on a policy that both Cheswick, Springdale and the Agan Park Joint Recreation Committee can look at and get approval from everybody,” she said.
Left to Robbins’ discretion, people who dump things in Agan Park would pay a hefty fine.
“We are going to enforce no dumping at the park,” she said, “and people caught doing it will be held liable.”