Dumpers hit local circus

Cleanup totals $1,500

Posted 1/15/25

A local circus arts organization faces steep cleanup costs after becoming the latest victim in a series of illegal dumping incidents that have plagued Northwest Philadelphia properties in recent months.

When Circus Forge acquired their East Johnson Street property at the edge of Mount Airy in 2023, they had to remove more than 150 tons of trash that had been dumped on the property. Now, despite installing a locking fence and cameras, they're dealing with another costly cleanup.

On Sunday morning, December 29, a nearby resident notified the group that their gate was left open, said Alex …

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Dumpers hit local circus

Cleanup totals $1,500

Posted

A local circus arts organization faces steep cleanup costs after becoming the latest victim in a series of illegal dumping incidents that have plagued Northwest Philadelphia properties in recent months.

When Circus Forge acquired their East Johnson Street property at the edge of Mount Airy in 2023, they had to remove more than 150 tons of trash that had been dumped on the property. Now, despite installing a locking fence and cameras, they're dealing with another costly cleanup.

On Sunday morning, December 29, a nearby resident notified the group that their gate was left open, said Alex McCraw, Circus Forge's executive director. When they went to inspect the property, the group found the gate's lock broken, their fence damaged and three large piles of construction waste dumped onto their property.

The offender had also driven into their shed, damaging it.

"We contacted 311, but unfortunately, 311 said they can only help with dumping on abandoned property or dumping along the street, so they were unable to help with this because it sits on privately owned property and not along the street," McCraw told the Local.

Describing the piles of trash, McCraw said "There were roof tiles, large pieces of wood, structural things like door frames, like linoleum tile, just a lot of construction debris," dumped in large piles.

The incident highlights an ongoing challenge with illegal dumping in Northwest Philadelphia. In recent weeks, similar incidents occurred at the former Rite Aid lot in Germantown and the Valley Greene Apartments in East Falls. In both of those cases, the city government stepped in to help clean up the trash.

State Representative Andre Carroll leveraged the Streets Department to clean up the Rite Aid after his constituents reached out. For Valley Greene, on Friday, January 10, the Community Life Improvement Program (CLIP) along with the Sanitation Department cleaned up the trash dumped behind the property, after the Local brought the issue to their attention.

However, commercial property owners face different challenges. According to a spokesperson for the Department of Sanitation, the department is "directed to supporting residential households' disposal of trash and community groups working to clean up their neighborhoods," but "Commercial property owners are responsible for cleaning their commercial properties/land and properly disposing of the debris."

Without the assistance of the city government, the group is left to find its own solution.

"We are really just left to sort of deal with it ourselves," Kelly Maguire, Circus Forge's board secretary, told the Local. "I'm hoping that maybe, because we are a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, we may be able to find a hauling company who would be willing to donate services."

Maguire said that while they don't currently have access to trucks for hauling, they have a decent number of volunteers to physically lift all the trash and move it.

"One of the nice things about being a circus organization is that we have lots of strong people but we absolutely would love volunteers for people with vehicles that can haul the stuff," Maguire said.

McCraw said that they filed a police report for the incident, however, their cameras were pointed toward a different section of the property. 

According to data from the police, there were twenty-four reported incidents of illegal dumping in the 14th police district, which includes parts of Germantown, Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill. However, in this case, police recorded it as "vandalism and damage to property" instead of illegal dumping. 

"We wish there was a way to discourage illegal dumping on any property," McCraw said. "The cleanup will cost us approximately $1,500 for the newly dumped trash."

When Circus Forge initially cleaned the property, they had access to heavy machinery to help move the trash, but now they don't have that luxury. They connected with Cindy Bass’ office who helped them organize the initial cleanup. 

"It's gonna be a little bit more exhausting to get it all loaded up into a vehicle," Maguire said.

Illegal dumping is nothing new in Germantown, or the rest of the city, either – a fact that led Mayor Cherelle Parker to make the issue a highlight of her recent winning campaign. She has pledged to make Philadelphia "the Safest, Cleanest, Greenest big city in the nation."

McCraw said that the group plans to add additional cameras and a stronger fence to prevent more dumping in the future.

Their cleanup is currently scheduled for February 1, from noon to 4 p.m. Anyone interested in helping, or volunteering a hauling vehicle for the cleanup, can contact Circus Forge at info@circusforge.org.

Tommy Tucker can be reached at Tommy@ChestnutHillLocal.com