In a cul-de-sac in Homewood recently, Al Chernov and Dani Kramer were tossing various kinds of trash into garbage bins. Couch cushions, a scale, paint cans. Suddenly, Kramer shouted, “Needles!”
Chernov, 52, and Kramer, 31, are the only two employees who pick up trash, part time, for Allegheny CleanWays, a nonprofit that specializes in cleaning up the millions of pounds of junk that have been illegally discarded across Allegheny County. The nonprofit focuses on sites with at least 50 pounds of trash, not small pieces of litter. They pick up garbage on private land and dangerous hillsides where city workers aren’t allowed to go.
The Homewood site is typical: it’s hidden behind dense shrubbery, down a small drop-off. It’s easy for an unscrupulous hauler to slide waste over the edge of their trucks there without being seen. While the needles aren’t unusual, Chernov said he’ll find a gun on occasion: he’s found nine in piles like this.
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