Of the many environmental lessons Dih’mond Perez learned over the past four weeks, one stands out.
“We have to keep litter out of our waterways,” she said, noting clearing storm drains is a good place to start.
Perez, 16, and the other 14 summer youth interns assigned to the city’s Public Works Department have some firsthand knowledge on the topic.
Since the July 9 storm that poured 5 and 8 inches of rain on parts of Berks County and caused areas of flash flooding, the crew has been busy clearing and unclogging street drains.
Efforts have focused on those of Reading’s more than 3,800 storm drains most in need of maintenance.
“You want to keep the storm sewers clear because they empty into the Schuylkill River,” Perez said.
Because the river is a wildlife habitat and a source of drinking water, the interns are performing an essential service, she said.
While Reading’s residents do not get their drinking water from the Schuylkill, 2.5 million people downstream do, said Bethany Ayers-Fisher, city sustainability manager.
“Since we are obligated to be good neighbors to our downstream neighbors, we have to make sure we are protecting their water supply,” Ayers-Fisher said.
Keeping trash and pollutants out of the river also is important to the health of wildlife and the ecosystem, she said.
“The best, cheapest and only real preventative way to keep debris out of the river is to collect it at the storm drains,” she said.
There is another good reason to keep the storm drains clear, Ayers-Fisher added.
When drains are clogged, water cannot enter the sewer and backs up onto the street, exacerbating flooding during heavy rains. This can cause damage to public streets and other infrastructure, as well as to private property.
But cleaning storm drains is far from being the interns’ only project
The youths, who work 20 hours a week at $15 an hour, also planted a community garden on South Fifth Street, built and installed planters in a new pocket park on South Seventh Street and cleaned up litter on trails in the Mount Penn Preserve.
They joined Ryan Bradley, clean city coordinator, Monday for a block cleanup on Chestnut Street before helping remove trash left by a former encampment on Neversink Mountain.
“These are more than initiatives to beautify the city,” Bradley said, noting the intent of the program is to expose the city’s high-school age residents to higher education, career paths and the many different occupations needed to run a city.
The city employs more than 600 people in diverse capacities, Mayor Eddie Moran said, noting hundreds of those will reach retirement age within the next decade or two.
“We need to start grooming the next generation that can fill those jobs,” the mayor said. “There are so many different areas within city government where they could fit in.”
This year’s crew of 50 interns, chosen through an application process, are working for eight weeks in several city offices and departments, including the fire department and public library.
They also will visit the university and colleges within the city and tour area businesses to meet local employers in the private sector.
And with four weeks of the program left, Perez and the others assigned to public works have plenty of projects ahead.
“It’s been a great experience so far,” she said. “We’ve learned so much.”
Source: Berkshire mont
Be First to Comment