Woman Seeks Help Ridding Waterway of Trash

Ruth Fuller used to spend an hour every day after work clearing trash and debris from the waterway that ran behind her Horsham Township home.

But, at 77 years old, Fuller, who has lived in her Westmont Avenue home for 52 years, is no longer able to do it. And it shows.

The drainage ditch, which runs behind her house and Meetinghouse Road, spilling into Pennypack Creek, is littered with cement blocks, lawn decor, tires, bikes, home insulation and other garbage. 

"You know that people are throwing stuff down there," Fuller's daughter, Sue Griffis said. "You know this is a breeding ground for West Nile."

One of Fuller's trees has already fallen in and another, with its roots exposed, is on the verge of collapsing as well. 

"I lost at least seven foot of my bank," she said of erosion.

Griffis said she has sought help from Horsham Township to help clear the waterway, but has had no luck.

"We don’t own anything back there," Horsham Township Manager Bill Walker said. "It's their property."

Walker said the water is owned by the state of Pennsylvania and the soil is owned by the homeowners.

Walker said he has tried to encourage an Earth Day cleanup and has suggested to some of the property owners that the township would provide a dumpster should they wish to undertake a cleanup. 

Griffis is quick to point out that her mother and other neighbors are elderly and unable to clear the waterway.

Horsham Township Council President Mark McCouch said the township would undertake cleanup only in instances where debris was causing flooding, or blocking of the creek.

Since the state owns the actual water behind Fuller's home, Patch reached out to Department of Environmental Protection Spokeswoman Deborah Fries to see if the state could help. 

"DEP does not do stream cleanups but there are volunteer agencies that do," Fries said. "The homeowners’ goal should be maximizing the amount of resources by (1) having a strong volunteer group to organize the cleanup, and (2) reaching out to others."

To further complicate matters, Fuller said piping that the township installed on a section of her property some 30 years ago–and never covered–cuts her property in half. To cross from one side of the water to the other, Fuller has set up a metal bridge of sorts.

Since the township installed the pipe on her property in approximately 1974, Fuller said she has attended council meetings and called on several township managers seeking to have the job finished. Ultimately, she had hoped that someone from the township would return and cover the pool of water with dirt and grass to help keep the mosquitoes away and to reconnect her property.

But, like the waterway behind Fuller's house, Walker said Horsham has no right to work on private property. He acknowledged that the township installed a concrete pipe on her property and said that, should the pipe break, the township would fix it.

"We had no right to do that," Walker said of the pipe installation. "What we did was wrong."

How you can help

Sue Griffis is hoping a cleanup group may be able to help her mother clear debris from the drainage ditch behind her Horsham home. If interested in helping, email Griffis at sg63237@gmail.com.